Zywiec Porter
Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)

I'm not a beer connoisseur, so I can't give you all the details. When I have a beer, it's like a glass of wine. I know what tastes good. I don't taste hints of this or that, or how creamy the texture is, or what it smells like. I enjoy a beer or a glass of wine for what it tastes like on my palette. I love food and I rate food the same way too. I know what tastes good and what doesn't. This Porter tastes good, one of the best I've ever had. Call me a rating virgin, I don't care, this is a damn good beer!

 

Dark ruby brown colour, clearly the liquid is clear. Brown foam, high, persistent, paints nicely on the glass.
Aroma heavily roasted, caramel, ash, nutty, there is some coffee and a hint of fried plum. There's a little bit of not much going on here.
Taste dry, the bitterness is heavily roasted, caramel and burnt ash character. It's long and noticeably high, not overbearing.
Medium saturation. Full body, the liquid has a smooth texture. I may be picking on myself, but unfortunately you can feel slight alcohol notes and this is not in plus for this beer. Aftertaste long dry, with a fruity (plum) finish.

16.9 oz bottle acclimated to 55°F and poured into a nonic pint glass.

Pours black with orange highlights. Produces a 1.5 finger khaki head, tan at the top, leaving a film that gives way to a ring with spots of lacing.

Initial aroma is strong, it smells of burnt coffee, and almost Worcestershire sauce, maybe not that specifically, but the same intense quality. I get what seems like a note of black licorice, including the sweetness. After agitating I notice alcohol come out, it seems very similar to the licorice I smelled before, and is perhaps what I was smelling then.

Initial taste before swallowing is a little cocoa powder in the inhale, then surprisingly sweet, there's an alcohol presence that doesn't burn, and a moderate bitterness, tasting both of hops and roastiness, it grows more intense the longer it sits, and the alcohol begins to burn. After swallowing I notice that licorice adjacent taste, which gives way to an aftertaste of strong bitterness, being dry and very malty. I notice it's also acrid and a little acidic, with sweetness that balances it somewhat. It's intense, but the flavor is there.

Mouthfeel seems to be full bodied and a little creamy. Not spectacular in my opinion but very nice to drink, and easy to enjoy the texture.

Overall I have to say that this is quite intense. That's not a negative, it just is. It's rather abrasive, which leads me to drink it slower than average. Huge amounts of roasted malt combine with an acrid taste to form something that really must be drunk slowly. I didn't dislike it, it just was not 100% my speed. It's not something most would want to drink often, but it's a concrete wall of a beer.

May buy again, not unlikely. My thing is though that I'm more likely to try something I haven't had before in the same style, and I wasn't highly impressed by this one, despite it being good. It deserves to be bought again for sure, just that I may or may not.

500ml, 9.5 ABV, $2, you could do MUCH worse than this one!

 

 

Shared 500ml bottle with s-I-l Greg, who provided this tasty treat.

Almost black body with a small tan head. Big aromas of dark malt, coffee, licorice. This carrys over the taste, really strong flavor. The roast finish is actually smooth. Been after this one for a while. Very enjoyable.

250 mL bottle into a pint glass. Tan head rises over dark brown brew.
Aroma of dark malt, bit of licorice, and a noticeable tinniness.
Taste matches. The dark roast is followed by cocoa, smidge of dark coffee, mild stone fruit and anise. The tinny flavor subsided, thankfully. Finish is dry with a nice bitterness and a bit of alcohol.
Feel is creamy but not thick, medium carbonation.
Overall, an OK Euro Porter.

 

 

 

Single bottle from Jungle Jim's

The pour is jet black with a tiny khaki head of foam. The taste is roasted malts, dark chocolate, along with some mild coffee. Cheers! A-

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted and bready malt, dried plums, dates, dark bread and light cocoa. Flavor is dark toasted and biscuit malt, Postum, molasses, dates, mild dried plum and a hint of cocoa; slightly sweet at first, but ends drier with some mild hop bitterness. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A pleasant Baltic porter with a little bit drier profile than most, particularly in the finish. The plum fruit, which is my favorite flavor in this style, is subdued, but there are is a date-like note that fits the style well. A light, but distinct molasses note that, along with the biscuit malt reminds me of Postum. The flavor change to a drier, with light hops character was disconcerting in the first taste, but grew on me; I liked this somewhat less sweet take on the style. Definitely worth a try for Baltic porter fans.

Appearance: Pours a dark, nearly completely black color with a strong tan head. SRM of 24. (4.00)

Aroma: Moderate aromas of dark grains, caramel, licorice, chocolate. Somewhat dry. (3.75)

Flavor: Strong and roasted flavors of dark chocolate, black licorice and cherry, roasted grain and dark malt. Bitter on the finish. (3.75)

Feel: Medium-bodied, average carbonation, finishes with roast and bitterness. (4.00)

Compared to Black Boss Porter 1/2023: Pours darker, stronger head. Milder aromas. More darkened and blacked sweet malt. Less smooth milk chocolate and caramel. More bitter and roasted.

Overall: A nice Baltic Porter. Some dark chocolate, black cherry and licorice, with some bittering roast to balance the alcohol and sweetness. Heavy and sweet and detectable alcohol, but still some complexity here. It's a goliath of a porter, but glad I tried it. (Rating: 3.84)