Thanks to one of my best buds for sending this my way – Brouwerij De Molen’s Engels & Drop Special English & Liquorice Porter with a blow of Coconut, English liquorice.
If you know me, I absolutely hate, hate hate liquorice.. but for some reason I can deal with it as part of a dark beer.. so I’ll probably enjoy this.
Appearance: Rich, very deep dark brown Porter, almost black but has a bit of a cola-like hue at the bottom of the glass. Moderate amount of yellow-beige head on top that diminishes to a thin layer after a good moment or so.
Aroma: From my first impression, I definitely will enjoy this – it’s got a mild roasted profile to it which gives it a moderate coffee-like presence to it. It’s a tad sweet but not too much with a bit of brown sugar and English liquorice (hint of fig). I’m not really getting the coconut so far but if I do I’ll report back. *Later that session* – I did not.
Taste: I think that I’m getting the liquorice popping out first and foremost here – it’s sweet with a bit of a fig-like taste, a hint of peat/tobacco, brown sugar and a mild roastiness to it that gives off a slight coffee presence again. Pretty watery for mouthfeel. Oh, I do get coconut this around but it’s very faint, at best.
Overall Thoughts: At 9% this is very smooth and I don’t feel any tipsiness from this beer yet.. but who knows in a few minutes from now. The liquorice works in this Porter as it’s sweet and compliments the typical notes you’d find in a classic Porter. There could be more coconut but if you hate it.. you probably won’t be grossed out by this beer.
