Utenos Porteris
Utenos Alus

2006: 500 ml bottle, bought in Denmark. Deep reddish brown colour, not as dark as many other Baltic porters, large light brown head. Malty sweet aroma, hints of roastiness, dried dark fruits and bakery. Very sweet and malty flavour, verging on "cloying" but is not over the hilltop. Just enough hops to keep my interest. Mellow and rounded mouthfeel, again associations of something out of a bakery. Faint hints of roastiness and coffee in the background. I’m not quite sure what to make of this beer - maybe too sweet, but still pleasant enough to convince me to buy it again on a day my "sweet tooth" needs to be satisfied.

 

Alert !!!
This is the same porter that, at this time, has 269 Hads.
Someone just saw a new label and snagged the points for entering a new beer.
But since I have your attention (hopefully), this is a great porter.
To my buds, this is among the best .... and I have had it a few times.
There is not a lot of interference with hops or boosted alcohol. This is just a refined porter. Caramel malt can get syrupy if carried to extremes, Stenos Porters does not.
It is how caramel should be malted and brewed.

Against the odds, Utenos (a small craft brewery started a decade before the Soviet Union collapsed) has produced a world class porter. It is listed as one of the "1001" beers... and it definitely deserves it for taste and human perseverance.