Einstök Ölgerd Toasted Icelandic Porter

A benefit of being a beer blogger is that when people see interesting brews, they often pick you up a bottle. That’s how I ended up with a 330mL bottle of the Toasted Icelandic Porter from Einstök Ölgerd, all the way from Akureyri, Iceland. In fact, the kind soul in question, A.J., doesn’t even drink beer herself. She just saw it and thought of me. What a saint!

According to the bottle, this 6% alcohol ale is brewed with Icelandic roasted coffee. The beer has a lovely dark brown hue and pours with a lush tan head. It has a rich, roasted malt nose that is supported by chocolate and java notes. The flavour kicks off with a rich and velvety malt and mocha combo. As things progress, this gives way to a modestly bitter finish—the only real weak spot of this brew—which probably could have been more assertive.

All things considered, this Icelandic offering was a pretty charming ale. It could have been more bold through the finish, perhaps, but the front end was dynamic and enticing.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.