Style: Baltic porter
ABV: 9%
Joe’s Take
For this week’s new release we’re drinking fireside beers at the big microbrewery with a teenie tap room, Duck Rabbit in Farmville, NC. We made the very short trip from Greenville to Farmville to get a taste of this year’s release of “Baltic Porter.” This seasonal brew is released each year in mid-December and has earned the brewery several Great American Beer Festival medals. Baltic-style porters are often cold fermented and lagered using lager yeast, as opposed to ale yeast in most other porter renditions. This use of lager yeast produces a smoother brew with a cleaner flavor profile that doesn’t give off fruity or estery notes seen with warm fermenting yeast strains. With that in mind, we made our way over to the dark beer specialists at Duck Rabbit Brewery to give their take on the style a try.
“Baltic Porter” was served in a unique setting for our new release tastings. Although the brewery and taproom are open, the space is too small to operate indoors. Instead, we pulled into the driveway, got out of our car and sat down at a picnic table by the fire. The server then took our order and brought the beers to us fireside. This was a unique experience because it was an especially chilly night for a beer tasting (around 37 degrees Fahrenheit). However, the winter warmers served at the brewery made the cold a bit more tolerable, not to mention the nice fire.
The beers came to us in a standard clear plastic cup as has become more frequent in the days of COVID-19. As it was dark out it was difficult to fully visually inspect the beer, but like a total nerd I pulled out my phone, flipped on the flashlight and gave it a onceover. The beer was dark (duh) but at the edges of the glass, the light shined through in a red-amber hue. There was minimal head on the beer that persisted in a thin ring around the edge of the glass.
With the style of glass and the cold weather, it was difficult for me to appreciate any strong aromas given off by the beer. Although, I wouldn’t expect many fruity yeast characteristics to be present given the style of the brew. About halfway through the tasting I began to perceive more aromas that were consistent with roasty malt, a slight hint of coffee, and some sweet alcohol.
Mouthfeel was pleasant and the beer was smooth. There was a light sting from the carbonation that was almost cleansing to the palate. “Baltic Porter” was lighter in body than I expected for a beer that tips the scales at 9% ABV. However, this contributed to drinkability and helped provide a smooth drinking experience.
The taste of the beer was quite enjoyable. It had some complex characteristics that were different from a lot of porters. There were notes of sweet roasted malt, but no real harsh undertones of char or burnt malt. The alcohol of the beer was detectable and played a big part in the flavor profile the beer displayed. Up front the alcohol provided a sweetness that played well with the smooth roasty malt. On the finish, the alcohol flavor came alive and provided a lingering warmth in the back of my throat (this was great on a cold night). I enjoyed the evolving flavors of the brew in the phases of each sip, and it was easy for me to keep going back for another.
If you were to pair this beer with food, you would need a hearty savory dish that could balance the strong alcohol and roasty flavors of the brew. Alternatively, I think this would pair nicely with a sweet dessert. Would it be crazy to think you could make some sort of boozy beer milkshake with this?
As I mentioned earlier, the mouthfeel and flavors of the beer made it pretty easy to get down for such a big brew. This beer would be best sipped slowly and savored though, since it is a heavy weight in the ABV category.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed heading out to Duck Rabbit Brewery and giving the 2020 release of “Baltic Porter” a try. The unique ambience in combination with the award winning beer had me considering making this a winter Thursday night tradition. If you’re in the area I recommend you head out to the brewery and see which of their beers they have rotating through their four tap setup and why not give them all a try…if you aren’t driving of course.
Cheers!
Abbreviated tasting notes
Appearance: Dark, red hues at edge, thin head that persists in ring around the edge. (4/5)
Aroma: Sweet roasty malt, slight alcohol notes, some coffee? (4/5)
Mouthfeel: Light body, slightly drying, light carbonation sting. (4/5)
Taste: lingering alcoholic warmth in back of throat. Dark malt, sweet alcohol, roasty, slight char. Alcoholic finish (4.5/5)
Drinkability: Smooth and satisfying. Watch for the alcohol! (4.5/5)
Total: 21/25
Nick’s Take
Happy Friday everyone! For the past few months that Joe and I have been working on the East Carolina Beer and Brewing blog, we’ve had our eyes on a number of breweries in our area that we have not visited before (or had many of their beers), as well as a focus on some of the breweries that we know quite well. To this point, we had surprisingly not made it to The Duck-Rabbit Brewery in Farmville (one of our neighboring towns), but saw that they had just released their baltic porter; it was a perfect excuse to venture there and finally give them the spotlight they deserve.
It was rather frigid out as we arrived at the brewery the other night, but we found a table close to the fire pit to get some residual warmth. Luckily, the baltic porter was a perfect beer to warm us up. As you’d expect, this porter is super dark and fights off any light trying to pass through. It reminded me of a dark, rich syrup, but with a light brown ring of wispy foam around the edge.
I couldn’t detect much aroma off the bat; it was probably a combination of the chilly air, a bit of the campfire smoke, and the plastic cup used for serving. I moved on to taking a few swigs so that I could perhaps make room in the cup for some agitation of the beer. This helped, and it was pleasantly sweet on the nose once I started making some head. I definitely found it to have a lot of malt character, with aromas of bread, some spice, and a what I perceived as a light touch of some fruit (I was thinking cherry or fig).
Now, back to the drinking part. Upon the first sip it was a bit tingly from the carbonation, and it persisted until I swallowed. I thought it might’ve had some bite from some spices, but couldn’t be sure yet. This baltic porter had a medium body and didn’t dry out the mouth. I think it was slightly viscous and left a thin trace of the beer around the teeth and gums.
As I previously noted, this is a great beer to warm you up from the inside out. By this, I mean that it has a lot of warming characteristics in the beer’s makeup. The malt flavors created a nice medley of bread, some spice character, and some molasses that made for a sweet and smooth sipper. It definitely benefits and evolves as it warms up in your hands, and the flavors come through more prominently. The aforementioned faint fruit aroma I thought I was getting turned up later in my tasting experience in the form of cherry – it was more noticeable in retronasal olfaction. I think this may be a classic case of “your results may vary,” as fruit is certainly not indicative of this style of porter (as Joe explained above).
Overall, this is a tremendous baltic porter that should be on your list. It’s smooth and delicious, easy to drink, and the perfect complement for the winter season. I think it would be pair well with most any pub fare, but my personal recommendation: have a bottle/pint on deck to wash down your Christmas cookies, as it would blend well with sweet treats. It is a seasonal release, so don’t hesitate or you may miss your chance until next year!
Abbreviated tasting notes
Appearance: Dark brown, like syrup. Wispy head that hangs around the edge. (4.5/5)
Aroma: Spice, malty, sweet, little fruit (cherry or fig). (4/5)
Mouthfeel: Medium body, some bite on the tongue, and slightly viscous. (4/5)
Taste: Sweet and malty. Some bready flavor, and a finish of cherries in retronasal. (4.5/5)
Drinkability: Smooth sipper for a cold winter night. Chase Christmas cookies with it. (4/5)
Total: 21/25
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