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Smuttynose Baltic Porter pours an inky thick chocolate brown with a light brown head. The nose is redolent of dark fruits, chocolate, and rich malt sweetness; it does get sweeter smelling as the beer warms. The flavors begin with a big rich sweetness mixed with chocolate in the front; the middle adds coffee and dark fruit to the mix, with raisin and currant the most obvious fruit flavors, and possibly a bit of cherry in the background. Baltic Porter then moves into roastiness and more coffee in the finish, ending rather clean. While there is a bit of 
lingering roastiness, the finish does exhibit the lager qualities of the Baltic Porter style. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy and the body is medium to heavy. Baltic Porter has medium carbonation that helps lighten the rich body on the palate, and also contributes to the clean finish. More chocolate richness does emerge as the beer warms, although for some reason this seems to lighten the body slightly. Overall, a smooth, drinkable, and delicious beer. We’ll be scoring a couple of extra bottles of this to throw in the basement—we’re guessing that much like the Alaskan Baltic Porter, this one will get much better with a little bit of age on it.
From the bottle: “The Smuttynose Big Beer Series: big beers in big
bottles, released seasonally in very limited quantities. Share one with your comrades!”
lingering roastiness, the finish does exhibit the lager qualities of the Baltic Porter style. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy and the body is medium to heavy. Baltic Porter has medium carbonation that helps lighten the rich body on the palate, and also contributes to the clean finish. More chocolate richness does emerge as the beer warms, although for some reason this seems to lighten the body slightly. Overall, a smooth, drinkable, and delicious beer. We’ll be scoring a couple of extra bottles of this to throw in the basement—we’re guessing that much like the Alaskan Baltic Porter, this one will get much better with a little bit of age on it.From the bottle: “The Smuttynose Big Beer Series: big beers in big
bottles, released seasonally in very limited quantities. Share one with your comrades!”Oh, the flavor.
From the Smuttynose website: “Indigenous to northern Europe, Baltic Porters historically stem from the shipping of British porters to the Russian hinterland. Unlike their British cousins, Baltic Porters are often brewed with lager yeast, which is the tradition we follow. Big & bold, with flavors of coffee, dark fruit & raisins, this black beer is smooth as a chocolate swirl.”
ABV: 8.7%
(4/26/2010)
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