Beer Review: Victory Baltic Thunder
I have not reviewed many porters, which kind of surprises me because I really enjoy them and tend to gravitate to them. Having had a fairly good run lately, with the Victory Brewing Company, my expectations for their beers have been raised. Their Prima Pils won Beer Brawl 8 – Pilsner and the Victory Saison, from Beer Brawl 6 had some good flavor that we enjoyed, so hopefully this Baltic Porter will live up to it’s sister beers.
Pour:
Starting with a nice easy pour transition into a hard pour to really open up the head. This left me with about an inch and half of head.
Appearance:
Poured a very dark mahogany color with ruby highlights, good froathy head. The head quickly dissapated into a thin amber layer common with the style because they tend to be moderately carbonated.
Aroma:
Toffee and chocolate, bit of plum and a stong malty smoke presence, all fairly well balanced together.
Taste:
This is a very malty beer, the upfront malty coffee flavors transitioned to chocolate then to sweet toffee rounded out by a bit of bitterness. Also present some mild fruit esters of raisin and plum and a strong effervescence from the carbonation.
Drinkability:
I enjoyed this porter, It had good flavor and appearance. The 8.5% abv was masked fairly well with the malt, complex with many different flavors, and had a nice mouth feel.
Food Pairing:
This would be a great compliment to some smoked ribs with a sweet bbq sauce (not spicy).
Tasting Method: 22 oz bottle
My rating: 8.9
We agree with the review details. One great food pairing is Baltic Thunder and goat Gouda cheese. Really, try it. It’s crazy good.