Elgoods Flag Porter 1825 Original

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I picked this beer up from the farmers market in Roanoke, Va. I was really looking forward to trying this beer as porters are my favorite genre of them all. Sadly, this was a bit of an average porter. The flavor was quite rosary, which was nice, but the beer was very thin ... Not a fan of that. Again, it was just average. Not saying it was not good, just that it didn't meet my high porter standards.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

A brown-black colored beer. A medium sized, frothy textured, light beige head rises above. There's decent hang time on this one. It settles into a thick soapy ringlet that tries to climb up the sides of the glass. A light-medium ody and smoothness to boot. The nose is a light touch of roastiness. That roastiness is more dominate in the flavoring. In this simplicity I found a pretty good porter.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

11.2 fl. oz. bottle, as Original Flag Porter, apparently labeled for export to USA. Brewed by Darwin Brewery. ABV is 5.0%. Bought at The Cheese & Wine Shop, Darlington. Very dark ruby colour, nearly black. Large beige head. Nice aroma of moderately roasted malts and dark chocolate. Smooth and pleasant mouthfeel. The flavour has again notes of moderately roasted malts, mild coffee and dark chocolate, but the beer is not too sweet. Moderate bitterness.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This is one of those porters that is on the sweeter side. Dark brown appearance, not heavily carbonated so a thinner head but with good lacing though. I am tasting caramel, honey, a little chocolate too but on the lighter side there. A good quality beer that I would gladly try again.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pours a thick opaque black colour with a very thin tan head. Little carbonation in this beer, but that's ok. Almost silky smooth on the palate, dark fruits, licorice, smoke and hints of bourbon on the nose. Taste is rich, very full and enticing. Great beer :)

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled@SBWF2007. Deep amber colour, mediumsized white head. Aroma is really pleasantly roasted malts, some hoppy bitterness along with mild woodenness. Flavour is quite much the same. The roast stays really long and also has some mild candyish hints.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

I bought this beer on a recommendation from my friend Pete. He recently told me the story about how this beer was brewed based using the recipe and yeast of a porter found in a shipwreck in the English Channel. Being a huge porter fan (my favorite style of beer), I lunged for the last 4-pack on the shelf at Corridor Wines the other day. I was not disappointed at all! Upon pouring my Flag Porter, a small caramel colored head formed at the top of the glass. Being that I like my porters at near room temperature, I let it sit on the counter for around 20 minutes before I started to drink it, but not before sneaking a quick sip. When I returned to the beer, the head was virtually gone. An interesting mix of sweetness and smokiness was emerging from the glass. Upon having another sip, I immediately understood where this smoky/sweet smell was coming from. The porter was full of a chocolate / coffee flavor with a hint of smoke. Like many porters, this beer had very little carbonation and drank extremely smooth. Having spent most of the summer drinking light, summery ales, this porter tasted amazing and made me miss the taste. Bring on the Fall/Winter season so I can get back into drinking the heavier beers. I love this beer! I recommend this beer to anyone into porters.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

I really love porters, since they are so similar in style to my beloved stouts. So this was a treat, to find a well made English porter, and it didn't disappoint. Aroma was a little rummy, chocolate, vanilla, black cherries, and malts. Appearance was very nice, with the edges showing a bit of brown and a very dark brown/reddish body. There was basically no head whatsoever, nor any lacing. But that's okay because they really don't need to have it. Mouthfeel was a bit on the thin and watery side of things, full bodied with a tingly action on the tongue. Flavors were malts, chocolate but suprisingly there's a wee bit of smoke found in there too! I LOVE smoke flavor in my beers. There's also some roasted coffee beans, and some slight bitterness on the back end. Overall, I'd say this was a very pleasing porter, and one I will definitely stock up on.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Big thanks to Grub for the sample!
Dark coloured body capped with snow white head. Bits of bubbly foam form over and assemble to the appereance of constalations. Body shines a ruby colour up to the light. A chocolaty sweet aroma. Maybe some vanilla in there too? A bit of chestnut in the flavour as well. I still claim to get some vanilla! The yeast works in there well, lending this some likeability. As a whole though, these flavours fall rather short of anything great. No dimension in terms of 'roastness'. Flavour seems to skip out on some sips. I enjoyed drinking this beer just fine, but as far as reviewing it... it just seemed inconsistent, mild and passive. Came across as being a little too commercial for 'authentic, traditional', real-deal English porter.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Weak malty aroma on this beer was disappointing. Dark brown in color with a full head. Mouthfeel was inconsistent, wavering between weak and full on different sips. Roasted, burnt maltiness in the palate with slight metallic notes. Beer was just OK.