Black & Tannin
Potters Hotel & Brewery (Hunter Beer Co)

Tried on launch day at the Local Taphouse.

Pours a dark chocolatey brown, with a big red tinge. Slight rim of head, tan colour, revived with a vigorous swill. Lacing is unimpressive, but overall not bad.

Smells very impressive. Dark and roasty, some light berry and spice notes from the shiraz, slight vinous tannins and gooey chocolate. Yeah, nice.

Taste is sweet, with loads of chocolate, some licorice, pepper and mild oaky wood. Shiraz notes are late and very subdued, slight tannins with a bit of a fruity note which could well just be a fermentation by-product: dark berries and plum notes. Slight dry spice, nutmeg and pepper. Remarkably smooth in the end, sweet but with a twist.

Big body, still a bit of boozey warmth. Drying at the back.

Complex, big and rewarding. A big brew with a nice twist to the sweetness overall.

Tried on-tap at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst. This was a collaboration between Hunter (where it was brewed) and the Sydney Taphouse AleStars (with some help from Doc from Doctor's Orders), a Shiraz barrel aged Baltic Porter. It's the sister beer to the Melbourne AleStar's BONZA IPA brewed at Mornington Peninsula.

Pours, dark, definitely dark, but with a weakness at the edges, as though it fades to clear rather than to a lighter brown hue. Head forms a pained ring of bubbly off-white froth at the edges. Body is extremely light, which is an interesting enough trait as it is, but it makes the beer seem a little more insipid as a result. Hmm.

Nose is mild: some faint roasted characters, ephemeral red wine, some chocolate, blackberry and a singing aniseed character. It does actually get better once it warms (as a Baltic Porter, it sat on the Local's lager lines). When it's warmer, there are richer characters: vanilla bean sweetness, and perhaps a touch more of the wine. It's still not as big or as rich as it could be.

Taste is pleasant enough. Some mild dusty chocolate, smooth underlying sweetness with a kick of astringency on the back. Not much hint of the oak, and I think the red wine I get is probably just a figment of my expectations. The aniseed spice lifts again, in an unexpected, but not unpleasant way. As it warms, some Concord grape and an odd banana ester character comes through. Again, it's decent, but it doesn't really win me over overall.

Feel is light, but with enough weight to carry the lighter-than-expected flavours.

Overall, its decent and pleasantly drinkable. But really it's also pretty disappointing. No, that's maybe going too far: it's a nice beer, but the oak should be more prominent, the wine should be more prominent, and the beer should be more complex overall. Maybe it's just a case of not living up to expectations.