I was unimpressed by the nose of the Shipyard Imperial Porter, which offered only mild chocolate and burnt toast. The taste had more going on - I got strong toffee flavors, caramel, chocolate, and a little raisin. I didn't think there was too strong a coffee component in the porter, which is in direct opposition to some other reviews I've read of this beer. Maybe my tastebuds were having an off day.
Hops also show up during the finish, which surprised me. It's interesting to have a defined hops component in an imperial porter, although I don't know if it meshed super well with the beer's other flavors. The beer also has a medium body, which is also somewhat more rare for an imperial porter.
The Shipyard Imperial Porter was $7.99 for a 22oz bottle. It has 7.1% ABV. If you're a fan of Imperial Porters and don't mind something more medium-bodied, then I recommend it for you.
For this beer, I agree much more with the overall Beer Advocate rating than the surprisingly low ratebeer rating. Again, that ratebeer score vs. the style is a perfect illustration of how these types of sites skew... an imperial porter is one of the beer aficionados' favorite styles, and therefore anything less than super full bodied, with wanton flavor and alcohol, disappoints them.
ReplyDeleteI've had this one on deck for over a month.
ReplyDeleteI picked up the big 4-pack of Pugsley's Signature Series brews when we were at the Shipyard brewery back in May. Can't wait to try it. Good review. Pay no attention to the beer douches who can't appreciate!
-Lost
Oh Lost, you gotta give reviews of all the other Pugsley's Signature beers too. I'm very interested. I read good things about the IPA in that series.
ReplyDeleteAlso very curious to hear your opinion on this Imperial Porter.