Beer 164-365 – Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Style: Baltic Porter

ABV: 7.8%

Purchased at: One of my winnings from the superbowl poll

What makes this beer different: Strong but very drinkable

Will I be drinking this again: Yes, this beer just jumped onto the top of my “favorite porter” list.

Grade: A

4/21/2010: Is this really my first beer from Maryland? I guess they really don’t have a lot of big time breweries down there so maybe this isn’t such a big surprise. On that note if you ever want to see what beers I have had from a certain state just click in the tag cloud along the right-hand column.

Huge head on the pour of this beer. I had to sit around for a few minutes for it to die down until I would pour out the entire beer. Gonzo has a lot more of a hop smell than I thought it would, with some chocolate there also. The taste is very complex for a porter, roasty, pine/citrus hops, a lot of chocolate. I am sure there are more little flavors going on, but those are the main ones that hit me. A lot of nice carbonation, almost “airy”. Finished pretty dry. Semi creamy mouthfeel, actually if I didn’t know this was a Porter I would have guessed it was a stout. Hides the semi-high ABV very well also. I liked this beer much more than I thought I would.

Picture of the day: 25 odd and funny album covers.

Beer 161/365 – Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter

Style: Baltic Porter

ABV: 9.5%

Purchased at: One of the bottles I won via the superbowl block poll on beeradvocate

What makes this beer different: Super strong for a porter, but about right for the style from what I understand.

Will I be drinking this again: Only brewed once, but to be honest probably wouldn’t go out of my way to find it.

Grade: B

4/18/2010: This beer brings two firsts for me on my 365 journey, first beer from Harpoon, and the first Baltic Porter style beer. To be honest I think this is my first Harpoon beer ever. What styles are they known for? I might try out some more harpoon in the near future.

Leviathan smells STRONG. A good bit of chocolate in the nose, and something kind of fruity. The flavor is dark malt, some chocolate, and a nice touch of dark fruit. The mouthfeel/carbonation is a bit on the low end for a beer with this high of an ABV. Trust me I like a strong beer with some bite, but this stuff has a bit of a rubbing alcohol kick to it. Normally strong beers like this get easier to drink as you go, but I found myself barely sipping this. Took me a good hour to finish it off. Overall the flavor was awesome, but the lack of mouthfeel to cover the ABV was a deal breaker for me.

Picture of the day: 25 examples of unintentional porn. Its safe for work don’t worry.