YellowBelly Brewery Southern Shore Foggy Porter Porter at 5.8% ABV | 45 IBU (C$11.03 at YellowBelly Brewery, 1 l, best before 27-Oct-2016, acquired 7-Sep-2016, reviewed 22-Nov-2016)
Appearance: clear amber-brown with one fat finger of fluffy light beige head, moderate retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: pine, citrus, dark fruit, banana, nutty and earthy. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (7/10) Medium body tending slightly watery, moderate-soft carbonation, off-dry mildly bitter and lightly astringent finish. (3/5)
Not your typical porter, by any means. That’s made apparent by the hop character that is still clearly present even though this is a bit past the BB date – and there’s a hint right there that this isn’t a normal porter: the BB date is only a couple of months after it was bottled? Seriously? For a porter? It’s the dry hopping with New World hops that provides the answers: rather than a malt-dominant porter with little in the way of aromatic hopping, and purely noble hops for bittering, this is actually a hop-dominant oddball with lots of pine and citrus elements (in addition to earthy) leading the way over a mild malt base. I was unconvinced with the first few sips, but it grew on me in a big way. It’s not without its flaws – the body is still too thin, in my opinion, and that seems to contribute to sharp astringent note in the finish – but I’m not unhappy I tried it. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
