Leviathan Baltic Porter

Sampled on draft at the Rivertown Pub in North Huntingdon PA this beer poured a black color with a small dark tan head that lingered. The aroma was toasty malts with moderate coffee and light cocoa. The flavor was strong coffee with notes of raisins, toffee, rum and cocoa. The finish was very long. The body was fairly full and nicely smooth. Solid.

12 oz bottle marked 4/13/09 thanks to mar. Pours with a tan head and a black body. Aroma of coffee and dark fruit. Taste is dark fruits, coffee, grassy, wet cardboard. Very tame and mild after drinking a Shorts beer. Hard to get all the flavors. Creamy carbonation.

Pours a very dark brown with a medium sized tan head. Aroma is quite nice. Got tons of dark chocolate, roasted malts, and espresso beans, along with hints of the high alcohol content. Few other aromas which I can’t quite pick out of that amalgam as well. Palate of the beer is kind of on the syrupy side of things. Aftertaste hits for a moment of dark chocolate. Chocolate and espresso in the taste, obviously from the roasted malts. Not very bitter at all, but you know all about the hops that be up in there. Also there is a sweetness, which I can’t quite pinpoint, but distinct from the chocolately sweetness.

courtesy of BA trader. Pours dark brown, mocha head. Aroma is malty, chocolate and light dark fruits. Taste, boozy, dark fruits - currants, prune, fig - some coffee roast, malts, light bittersweet finish.

Bottle: Poured a dark black color porter with a huge light brown foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aromas of black chocolate and roasted malt are well balanced and quite enjoyable. Taste is also a well balance mix between some lightly bitter roasted malt notes with some dry black chocolate. Body is a bit thin with good carbonation and no signs of alcohol. A fuller body and more chocolate notes would have made this a pretty perfect Baltic Porter but this is very good nonetheless.

on tap @Capones–pours an off white head and dark brown color. Aroma is dark malt-roasty/molasses, some earthy hops. Taste is sweet dark malt-roasty/molasses/licorice, secondary spice/earthy hops, some dark fruit. Soft carbonation. 3.3 *090402-12 oz bottle-ashy/hint of chocolate, carbonation on the aggressive side. 2.7 We’ll go with the tap version.

Deep dark brown coloured body with a lighter ruby tint and a very thin tan head - tons of bubbles show rising from the sides when held up to a light. Aroma of roasted malt, pit fruits, raisins, caramel and a bunch of nuts. Full-bodied; Chewy mouthful of nuts, alcohol, caramel and light spices. Aftertaste is super potent, a lot of alcohol and unrefined sugars show. Aftertaste show caramel, malt and oak. Overall, nothing Baltic Porter about this one - more of a bitter dubbel than anything else - perhaps an ’Imperial Brown’, but this is definitely not a ’decent’ Baltic Porter - try Zywiec if you want a real one. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from OIiver’s Beverage in Albany, New York on 22-December-2008, sampled at home in Washington on 12-January-2009.

Pours black into a shaker. Mocha head with excellent retention leaves sheet lacing as it recedes to coat surface. Dark chocolate-covered pit fruit aromas. Smooth with dark caramel-covered chocolate dipped, cherries that have been soaked in alcohol. Very tasty.

Pours dark brown, nearly black, with a small, sudsy head – a lot of char and burnt malts in the aroma, with a strong vanilla bean character, dark roast coffee – creamy in the mouth, moderate carbonation – very sweet, caramelized sugars in the flavor – strong whole bean vanilla flavors – roasted malt, charred character, light tobacco notes – the sweetness gets tempered a bit by the roastiness and some spicy, warming alcohol – the alcohol doesn’t become overpowering – it simply adds a nearly cinnamon-like spice – long, warm finish – a little boozy when cold, but mellower once warm – a tiny bit of vinous character on the back end, but it is washed out by the alcohol spiciness - a pretty good baltic porter.