Anyway, Cinabar ordered me quite a few beers from the Brass Castle Brewery, in Yorkshire. This Black Russian is a coffee infused Baltic Porter. Whereas I'm used to drinking English Porters, which are ales, a Baltic Porter is a lager. This Black Russian is brewed with malted barley and also malted rye. I do love the spiciness of a rye beer. At 7% in volume this Black Russian should have plenty of kick with its spicy rye and coffee flavours.
On opening the can there was a deep rich coffee aroma. This is a proper rich coffee smell, rather than the roasted chocolate malt often associated with porters, which lend to an aroma akin to coffee. This Black Russian has an obvious coffee smell to it that it just can't hide, and why should it? The roasted chocolate malt takes a step backwards for the infused coffee to step forwards and take a bow.
The depth of colour on pouring this Black Russian made my lips smack. There was the redness from the rye peeking through the deep dark cracks of blackness from the malted barley and infused coffee. With that depth of colour comes an equally bottomless depth of flavours. There is an initial roasted chocolate malted sweetness, followed closely by a heavy infused coffee flavour. There is then a herbal bitterness from the added hops and a spice from the malted rye. Then the infused coffee makes a return into the aftertaste.
This is a gorgeous Baltic Porter. I couldn't tell that it was a lager. It wasn't too bubbly. It could be used as an after dinner beer. Personally I washed down sausages on toast with plum tomatoes on top. I love black coffee. I love beer. I love Black Russian, because it's just like drinking both at the same time. It's just living the dream!
No comments:
Post a Comment