Brewery: Flying Dog
Location: Frederick, Maryland, USA
ABV: 8.7%
Version: Bottled
Source: Tesco

[Part three of a Flying Dog Triple, along with Classic Pale Ale]

Gonzo Imperial Porter is another recent addition to the Tesco World Beer Range. I grabbed a couple of bottles of this one as soon as I spotted them on the shelf and I urge you to do the same; this is an absolutely fantastic example of the imperial porter style, a truly fabulous beer.

Enough hyperbole (fuelled, I might add, by the fact that I’m supping another glass of Gonzo Imperial as I type). I think it’s probably time for some description. The pour is a pleasure in itself: the beer almost gloops out of the bottle and settles down to present an opaque, black body with a creamy, tan-coloured head that lingers right to the end of the drink. The first sip releases a flood of rich, mocha, coffee-chocolate flavours: sharp, dark chocolate and smooth, mellow coffee. Further sampling reveals hints of vanilla and black treacle, creating a lingering, palate-tingling sweetness that reminds you of the after-taste of good, creamy, treacle toffee and there’s a very, very slight hint of pepper in there as well.

Damn, this stuff is delicious. Since we started Blog o Beer I’ve sampled some truly incredible beers. The vast majority of the ones that I’ve enjoyed the most (so far) seem to have been stouts, porters and strong, imperial stouts and porters – such as Red Rat Crazy Dog Stout, Outstanding Stout, Meantime London Porter, BrewDog Rip Tide and the pick of the bunch so far, Brewdog Tokyo* – and Gonzo Imperial Porter is definitely up there with the best of them.

Seriously: go straight to your local (large) branch of Tesco and clear the shelves. I reckon I’ll be doing just that the very next chance I get.

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company
Location: Greenwich, London
ABV: 6.5%
Version: 750ml bottle
Source: Sainsburys

I have to admit to still being a little in the dark with regard to the precise dividing-line between ‘porter’ and ‘stout’ (although I’m working on it… as often as I can). Meantime have thoughtfully provided a micro-site at www.london-porter.com, which includes a selection of rather fascinating articles on the origins and history of the porter style, but still nothing definitive on where that dividing-line lies. More research needed on my part, clearly…

Meantime London Porter (not to be confused with either Meantime London Stout or Meantime Coffee Porter) is the brewery’s flagship dark beer and they supply it in exceedingly generous 750ml wine-bottle portions. Now then, I’m a big fan of the 750ml approach, if only because it gives you longer to appreciate a particularly fine beer such as this one. You can pour yourself a full pint and leave a decent half in the bottle for an ongoing top-up, or let it breathe for a while and try it again as a stand-alone second helping.

Meantime London Porter is a beer that definitely warrants that second helping: it pours a rather lovely dark ruby red, with a thick, bubbly head and gives off enticing scents of liquorice and treacle. Strong coffee notes come to the fore, alongside more treacle and molasses, with that ever-present liquorice providing the lingering after-taste. The second measure has an even more richly complex flavour, one that demands to be savoured.

All in all, it’s a big bottle, full of a very big drink indeed. If a pint of Guinness is meant to be a meal in a glass then this one is something of a six-course banquet, complete with liqueurs and brandy to finish. But to come back to the original point: except for the higher alcohol content (and the larger bottle) I’m not entirely sure what the essential, key difference is between the London Porter and the Coffee Porter, or even the London Porter and the London Stout. I reckon I’ll just have to drop Meantime a line and ask the experts. I’ll let you know what they let me know in due course.

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company
Location: Greenwich, London
ABV: 6.0%
Version: 330ml bottle
Source: The Vineyard, Belfast

I picked up the Meantime Coffee Porter in a batch from Belfast’s premier beer merchant, The Vineyard. On the advice of our very own Ed Ashby, I made a point of stopping off there for supplies when Jo and I were visiting friends in Northern Ireland in August. Weighing in at a dinky 330ml, in a mini-wine-bottle format, I consider this to be more of a taster than a full-length drink experience, but it still did enough to convince me that I’d be more than happy to re-visit a larger measure if I ever encountered one.

On the face of things, Meantime Coffee Porter does exactly what it says on the label, but there’s a deeper complexity to this strong, flavourful porter that makes it really quite special. It starts off with a big, big coffee nose, sure enough, but on the first sip I was tasting much more rich caramel and bonfire toffee. The coffee notes developed as the drink went on though, and by the end of the bottle (too soon!) they really were dominating the others and the after-taste was definitely espresso.

Overall, it’s a beer of huge, intense flavours and powerful character; one I thoroughly enjoyed. I might even be able to get away with a session on Coffee Porter, if I was feeling brave or foolhardy enough, but I rather suspect it would be better savoured as a bill-topper after a few pints of lighter London Stout.