Welcome back to The Eternal Hoptimists and another beer review.
Historically the porter style has always been a firm favourite of mine so when I received a imperial/double porter from the excellent Tartarus Beers, needless to say I was very excited at the prospect.
Perhaps my only slight concern would be as to whether the toffee and caramel flavours would make
this one a touch too sweet.
I am not the kind of person to write off any beer before trying so let’s get this one in the glass and see how it shapes up.
1, Name : Gretel
2, Brewery: Tartarus Beers (Leeds, England)
3, Hops : Not stated
4, Grain : Barley, Oats, yeast & contains lactose
5, Aroma : Sweet caramel, chocolate toffee notes with a touch of bitterness and notes of the malts
used.
6, Appearance : Pours black in colour with a three finger fluffy mocha coloured head
7, Body : Medium to full body with a nice creamy mouthfeel
8, Taste : Has a very pleasant chocolate caramel flavour with a nice level of bitterness that helps to
balance proceedings. As with any good porter, malts are also present on the palate, all of which
creates a very drinkable beer.
Well, if like myself you have any possible concerns about the potential sweetness of this beer then you can rule that out straight away as it is a really well-balanced beer with all of the promised flavours present, none of which dominate and at no stage was I left thinking that this was overly sweet.
I would say that this has a slight reminder of the Rolo sweets as you drink and in fact with the toffee caramel flavours you almost want to chew rather than swallow this one as it has a rather moreish taste. If I had to be slightly critical then I would say that for a beer of such strength, perhaps this could have been a bit more full bodied to ensure that you savour each mouthful as this currently is a little too easy drinking and could become dangerous after a couple.
To sum up, I would say that Tartarus has another hit on their hands, and whilst this is perhaps not the greatest beer that I have had from them, it is well worth keeping an eye out for.
Marks overall rating: 3.8/ 5.0
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