Gate City Terminus Baltic Porter

Let's give them another shot. Well, I say that, but I kind of backed myself into a corner by buying a bunch of these beers all at once. The Awe Juice was good, but the others were stinkers to the point that I'm not coming into this with a whole heap of confidence. Still, a porter is a good go-to style, so they still have a shot at another good one.

The deep ruby colored beer has very little head on it. What it has is a thin patch in the middle with a thicker ring on the glass that is full of light tan bubbles. The aroma is sweet, smokey wood, chocolate, and a bit of coffee. It's a great smell - even better than the Icelandic Porter that I remember thinking was really good.

First sip is sweet and smokey, just like a good, highly malted porter really should be. There is a strong coffee on the back-end, but I've learned to expect it, and I am training myself to like the coffee, if it's not too much. This is just about the edge of me still liking the beer. But I liked the sip okay. It had enough chocolate to warrant the bitter end.

Tip-in is smoke, chocolate, a little oak, and some toasted oats while the carbonation does very little. The middle opens into a kind of smooth beer with a muting of the flavors that I'd already tasted. The finish is bitter with a swirl of coffee dominating before the smokey oat trail-off.

Bottom Line: A bit more bitter than it deserves, but it's not half bad.

3.0/5