The first bottle I opened was the Portside Brewery Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter. In bottles, this is described as an installment in the Brewmaster’s Reserve series. It was only rolled out on March 27th of 2015 so my bottle was very fresh indeed. In fact, I drank it the night I got it. Portside said this about it on their Facebook page when they released it:
We added the Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter…to our tap lineup tonight. It's a rich, smooth chocolate porter brewed with heaps of roasted barley, chocolate malt, and Belgian dark chocolate. Avoid the snow, stay warm in the tasting room and enjoy this new brew!
Portside Brewery Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter has an alcohol content of 8.2% by volume with 10 IBUs. If you don't already know, the Bismarck was a behemoth of a German battleship that tore up the Atlantic during World War II until it was sunk by a British Navy armada. Like it's nautical namesake, Portside Brewery Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter comes at you with all of its 16-Inch guns blazing-but with waves of flavor rather than shells as big as trees.
Portside Brewery Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter pours to a jet black (but not opaque) color with a thick head of creamy tan foam and an absolutely sinful powdery cocoa nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a medium body up front as I sip, clean like a lager (as a Baltic Porter should be) and roasty, very roasty indeed. But really the chocolate is the star and the beer is permeated with it, powdered cocoa, bittersweet dark chocolate goodness. I’m not sure if this beer is bottom fermented as a Baltic Porter should be.
The beer finishes roasty and dry with a gentle kiss of grassy hops. It tastes brewpub fresh, and it is. I’m just loving the fresh roasted malt in the nose and palate, and the fresh barley malt notes up front. It’s a bit thin in body I think for a Baltic Porter and 4 stars for style there, but the chocolate is just intense and 5 stars hedonistically. This one gets 4.5 overall from me-just an outstanding beer I’m glad I got to try and really, really enjoyed.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft