Bottle, 4.5%. Good fruity aroma, tropical and mineraly. Cloudy pale yellow colour. Small white head. The flavour is fruity with grapefruit bitterness. Mild mineral finish. Refreshing and clean. Low to medium bitterness.

Baltic porter from a brewery in western Poland, Szczecin to be precise, where the roots lie of Kamila, at whose home this bottle was shared – thanks Jonathan and Kamila! Pale yellowish beige, thickly moussy, shred-lacing, slowly opening head, black robe with misty mahogany-brown edges. Aroma of coffee grounds, bitter black chocolate, cold espresso, toasted brown bread, black peppercorns, dried prunes, toasted walnut, bayleaf, hints of gherkin, sweet sherry and something vaguely smoky. Cleanish sweet onset but nowhere cloying, dried plum, date, quite ‘prickly’ in carbonation but with full, oily mouthfeel; a vague note of porcini-like umami is present but remains in the background, while a thick layer of black chocolate is gradually superseded by slabs of bitter roasty coffee and toasted brown bread, dragging something walnutty in its wake; the roasted bitterness is spread out over a long distance, aided by leafy hops, but that full dark chocolateyness keeps the overall flavour bittersweet, with a dash of rum-like alcohol in the end to top it off. No ‘pastry’ ingredients here, no barrel ageing, just your old school, plain and classically designed eastern European Baltic porter – and though a modern addition to the old heritage of similar beers by Zywiec and Okocim, every bit as convincing. Excellent and elegantly unadorned example of the style from one of the countries most traditionally representing it.

Банька

Bottle, 7.7%. Vinous aroma, milk chocolate. Almost black colour, seems clear. Small frothy off-white head. The flavour is quite roasted with a lot of coffee. Also quite sweet. There must be lactose in it. Long aftertaste, mostly dark and bitter chocolate. Perhaps a bit too sweet, but I like it.

Not a Czech ahoj

Niska ale gesta czapa piana. W aromacie kawa, czekolada, skorka chlebowa, lekka sliwka. W smaku kawa, gorzka czekolada, wanilia. Mocno palone. Chyba za mocno jak na porter. Niskie wysycenie. Powiem tak, dobre piwo ale smakuje jak stout a nie porter.

Tap @Kufle i Kapsle in Warsaw-Poland. Coffee bean color with a beige foam. Nose: green coffee mixed with “burnt” malt. Peculiar, I must admit. Mouth starts clean, with a note of under spirit cherries and a medium bitter finish. Not such a memorable Baltic Porter, just solid.

Barwa żółta, zmętnione, piana biała, dość obfita, średnio trwała. W aromacie cytrusy, białe owoce, nieco iglaków. W smaku półwytrawne, cytrusy, białe owoce tropikalne. Goryczka do średniej, wysycenie i ciało w normie. Niezłe, ale niczym specjalnym się nie wyróżniające IPA.