Imperial Porter
Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro

 

 

On tap at the brewpub last night. Really liked this one a lot.

The beer pours the expected blackish brown color with good head retention and laciing. The nose is likewise attractive, with a considerable licorise aroma countering the coffee, vanilla and dark chocolate. On the palate, this beer is flat out delicious. The beer has a very soft, plush, smooth mouthfeel, and delivers plenty of flavor. The licorise is a bit less noticelable on the palate, and blends well with the dark chocolate, vanilla and light coffee. Was told the abv. is in the 8% range, which I think is about right. In any event, this beer is entirely too drinkabilable for its abv. Impressive.

Boundary Bay serves this imperial porter in 12-oz. snifters. I was told it was about 8.5% ABV, but that may not be correct. I'd just had two pints of BB beer that disappointed me in their relative lack of definition, so I was especially pleased when this porter delivered some pizzazz. Both the taste and smell deliver a bold bitter chocolate essence with some light coffee. The beer is opaque black and forms branching lace on the glass. A long, smoky aftertaste gives it a graceful exit.

While most of the contours were engaging and strong, they lost some potency after a few minutes of warming when some medicinals stepped forward.

Served on tap at the brewery. Served in 10oz Goblet. Poured a dark brown/almost black with a half-inch of deep khaki head that left just a hint of lacing. Very enticing aroma, lots of roasted and toasted scents with a touch of hop in the nose. Those wonderful roasted aromas show up in the flavor with slightly more hop presence in the taste than appears in the aroma. A solidly predictable body, perhaps a little thinner than expected. Solidly drinkable under the right conditions, IE: those gray, rainy, damp days that we are accustomed to in the PNW. This was the first batch the brewery made, hopefully it will become a regular in the yearly rotation.