Anniversary No. 8 Baltic Porter

 Anniversary No. 8 Baltic Porter is a commemorative offering from Toronto’s Left Field Brewery. This burly bruiser comes in 355mL cans and contains 9.5% alcohol. Priced at just over $3 a can, this seems like a gift to we the customers and I appreciate it!

A#8 is near black and pours with a short-lived tan head. It has a hefty roasted malt aroma, with brown sugar and sweet molasses notes. The flavour is sugary and boozy, with elements that brought to mind toasted marshmallows and vanilla, big malts, and, at the back end, a touch of bitterness.

This is a strong and slightly-too-sweet Baltic Porter. I’d have adjusted the balance nob from sweet toward bitter, but the strength and texture were right on the level.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Barrel Aged Anubis

Barrel Aged Anubis is a Baltic porter from the gang at Black Lab Brewing and their Barrel Series. The beer is a massive 12% alcohol ale sold in 500mL bottles. It’s a dark as midnight brew that pours with almost no head—just a scattering of an suds.

For such a powerful beer, BAA has an unexpectedly reserved scent—it is slightly woody and sweet, with some raisin notes, but it is definitely not nose overpowering. While the aromatics are a bit underwhelming, that doesn’t seem to translate into the flavour, which is rich and robust. More than anything, this ale has loads of wood-aged sweetness and a boozy hit. The beer is quite malty, with a liquor element that I liken to brandy. Behind all of that, there are smokey molasses and cocoa expressions and a bit of raisin, too, which lends a fruitcake quality. The mouthfeel is extremely thick, and there is a kiss of bitterness at the back end.

Named for the dog-headed Egyptian god of death, Barrel Aged Anubis is a powerful, boozy bomb. It’s not exactly subtle, but there are definitely layers in this beer. However, I found that the substantial barrel-aging managed to drown out some of the classic porter elements that I was pulling for. I liked the brew, but I didn’t love it.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Smuttynose Baltic Porter

Smuttynose Baltic Porter (not to be confused with the Smuttynose Robust Porter) is a strong beer (9% alcohol) that comes in convenient four-packs of 355mL bottles. Don't drink a four-pack in one sitting. Just don't. This beautiful dark ale comes from Hampton, New Hampshire and its Smuttynose Brewing Company. It's an obsidian-dark ale with a lush, thick tan head.

SBP has an understated aroma with a roasted malt spine, fleshed out with notes of figs. For flavour, there is a complicated blend of bitter molasses, dark fruit, and tobacco, warmed by every drop of that 9% booze.

When I started my review brew, it was refrigerator cold and already complex, but as I sipped, the flavour gained layers at an interest rate that approached criminal. This is a beer to savour--not one that should be rushed. I paired it with an after dinner bourbon on the rocks and a quarter of NBA basketball, and it left me hella mellow and peaceful. A strong beer that speaks softly. Highly recommended.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Continuity Baltic Porter

Despite some egghead mumbo jumbo about Gestalt continuity on the label, I decided to pick up a 500mL bottle of Continuity Baltic Porter, a nice dark ale from Guelph, Ontario's Stone Hammer Brewing. The brew was a solid 7.8% alcohol, balanced against just 34 IBUs. It poured blackly with auburn highlights beneath a thick tawny head.

Continuity had a brawny nose, rich with dried fruit notes and a touch of fruitcake. The flavour was an attention catching jumble of tastes--raisin, coffee, leather, and well-roasted malt were the chief elements that I picked up. CBP finished sweetly, but with a ripple of hops. By the end, the booze bill was also starting to assert itself.

According to the slogan printed in the label, "continuity" is a noun defined as "the unbroken and consistent existence of great beer over time." Lofty stuff. Fortunately, this Baltic porter did approach greatness, with its stalwart, never showy flavour, and its high percentage. It could have been a bit more bitter--that would have given the finish a bit of verve. Still and all, CBP was a really nice dark beer from one of Ontario's better below-the-radar brewers.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Lost River Baltic Porter

Lost River Baltic Porter followed me home from a recent trip to the Bellwoods Brewery bottle shop. I'd gone to the Torontonian suds supplier in search of IPAs and American Brown Ales, which I found in large measure, but as I turned to go, this sad little puppy looked so forlorn siting there in its refrigerator that I buckled and let it tag along.

At 7.6%, Lost River has some heft, it's sold in 500mL bottles, out of which comes a gush of opaque brown/black beer topped with a velour foam of cream head. Roasted malt is the commanding note in the aroma, though there are milky chocolate milk and molasses characteristics, too. A soft and creamy mouthfeel delicately grips roasty, malty flavour elements as well as some subtle chocolate and cafe con leche notes.

Generally, I like Bellwoods' hoppier and more assertively flavourful brews, but Lost River Baltic Porter offered a nice alternative. While still high in alcohol, it provided me with a mellow, melodic sipper that I savoured lazily on a Friday evening. This might not be Bellwoods' most unique or noteworthy beer and it doesn't have a "wow factor" (to use a greasy term), nor is it as revelatory as some of the porters I've been lucky enough to experience, but it is lovely offering all the same. 

Buy it. You'll like it!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.