The Bar Towel

Just tried one of these -- it is deep mahongany, rich, fruitcake on the nose and deliciously dark-fruity but with a solid hop backbone. Very very good. (All IMHO, of course). Anyone else tried this yet? Highly recommend to winter warmer lovers.

I'm having one right now. Not very impressed. Fairly generic UK beer (doesn't Greene King also run a chain of pubs?). OT: I was pleasantly surprised by the Okocim Porter - sweet, smooth and tasty.

midlife crisis wrote:Just tried one of these -- it is deep mahongany, rich, fruitcake on the nose and deliciously dark-fruity but with a solid hop backbone. Very very good. (All IMHO, of course). Anyone else tried this yet? Highly recommend to winter warmer lovers.

I tried it and liked it, a lot. It definitely packs a lot of flavours as described above and I also noted a rich caramel flavour. Had it in the afternoon before dinner, but would highly suggest enjoying a bottle after dinner or later in the evening.

( oops )

midlife crisis wrote:Just tried one of these -- it is deep mahongany, rich, fruitcake on the nose and deliciously dark-fruity but with a solid hop backbone. Very very good. (All IMHO, of course). Anyone else tried this yet? Highly recommend to winter warmer lovers.

I enjoyed it as well...the oak barreling comes through in the flavor and the fruit tones are very bright yet it has mellow roast Char character like a porter or bock and a pleasing light bittering finish.

Nice blended ale.

Good find! To whoever ordered this at the "BO" purchasing black hole

Gedge wrote:I'm having one right now. Not very impressed. Fairly generic UK beer (doesn't Greene King also run a chain of pubs?). OT: I was pleasantly surprised by the Okocim Porter - sweet, smooth and tasty.

I'm a fan of this beer (Okocim porter) and I can say this latest release is the sweetest in my memory and I've been buying it for over 10 years.

I have a case of the last release to compare and although it has cellared, I still think the new Oki sweetness is more pronounced.

I'll be loading up on this release anyway in anticipation of the inevitable dry spells we go through between releases of this beer.

I have a case of the last release to compare and although it has cellared, I still think the new Oki sweetness is more pronounced.

Oki sweetness?

northyorksammy wrote:

Oki sweetness?

Translation: The sweetness of the new Okocim porter.

"Oki" = bucolic term for Okocim

I found Ocicim Porter a very rare type of beer indeed, in that it is very well made and I do not care for it much. Weird!

Belgian wrote:I found Ocicim Porter a very rare type of beer indeed, in that it is very well made and I do not care for it much. Weird!

That is weird. Perhaps you should try some crappily made beers? There are most likely a few kicking around your local LCB to tha Izzo.

shintriad wrote:

Belgian wrote:I found Ocicim Porter a very rare type of beer indeed, in that it is very well made and I do not care for it much. Weird!

That is weird. Perhaps you should try some crappily made beers? There are most likely a few kicking around your local LCB to tha Izzo.

** stony silence **

I agree. To sample it at its best, I suggest people drink it at shelf temperature or "chambre" at the most. It is filtered if not pasteurised. This takes away some taste but drinking it warmer restores some of it.

The beer is really an 1800's survivor being a blend of a strong, oak-aged "stale" beer (to use defunct terminology) and a younger best pale ale. It is lightly acidulous and I suspect the old ale is only used in a proportion of 10-15% although I don't know for sure.

Recently I made my own 18th century-style beer, following old instructions for a three thirds. For the pale ale I used Fuller's Vintage 2006 both for its youth and strength. For the young brown, I combined Sleeman Porter and some Sinha stout to get a youngish, sweet, fresh roasted taste that was "slightly bitter" (per early 1800's descriptions of mild porter or brown beers). (An alternate would be Corporal Punishment). For the aged element I used one-third Petrus Old Brown.

The blend was really good. In comparison to the Suffolk Strong beer, it was darker, more porter-like (which was my intent) and more acid, probably because I used a greater amount of the stale element than the Suffolk Strong did. Had I used only about 10% of the stale, its PH and flavour might have approached the Strong Suffolk more. I was surprised (or not) by how close my blend resembled Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. The latter may be the closest commercially available example of a 1700's-1800's blended porter.

It is unfortunate that Guinness FES is not sold in Canada. It remains a superb beer and testament to what Diageo can do in beer when so minded. Were additional warrant required, the beer receives good praise from Roger Protz in the current issue of All About Beer.

Gary

I could not pick up any bottles, 100 flew off the shelves at Summerville and other LCBOs I went to. However 2006 is show2ing up, and I picked up a reasonable 6 only