Holiday Baltic Porter | Brewerianimelogs (Anime and Beer Lore)

Rating: 5/5

Abundance by Renaissance brewing is a 7.6% ABV Baltic Porter brewed with cherries.

Label:
A hybrid of English Porter and Russian Imperial Stout, Baltic Porters are full bodied and smooth, with rich malt flavours. Abundance is brewed with cherries and this helps accentuate the sweetness of the eleven different malts that we used in the mash. The result is a robust, dark beer with exceptional smoothness, less burnt characters than traditional porters and a mellow cherry finish. Abundance is a perfect pairing for a kiwi barbecue, with an iron curtain influence: venin rye bread

==Introduction==

A Baltic porter from Marlborough New Zealand. I cannot recall if I ever had had a New Zealand beer before, but what this says it has to offer, I was definitely intrigued with the find. I honestly chose this on a whim since I was doing other beer purchases online and I needed to get another beer to finish my order. This one intrigued me since not only was it a regular porter, but a Baltic one at that. The addition of cherries, well, that just added to how much I wanted to try it. I cannot recall if this will be my first review for a New Zealand beer, but this is a new review here on the site for Renaissance brewing. Cheers!

Aromas:
Coffee, mocha, dark chocolate, chocolate milk shake, milk chocolate, dark cherries, cherry cordials, marshmallow hints, soy sauce, molasses, anise, mint chocolate, brown sugar, Dr. Pepper Cherry hints, vanilla, caramel flan hints, rye bread, pecan pie hints, hazelnut, soy sauce and dark fruit raisins.

Flavors:
Dark Chocolate, chocolate milk shake, bakers chocolate, coffee, cherry cordials, dark fruit raisins, dark cherry, currants, black berries, mild rye bead, marshmallow, mild roasty hints, milk sugar, soy sauce hints, mocha hints, pecan pie, dulce de leche caramel, hazelnut nectar, vanilla, Dr. Pepper Cherry hints, anise, Irish cream and mint chocolate cake.

Aftertaste:
Mild Roasty coffee, milk sugar, rye bread, dark fruit, dark cherry yogurt hints and dark chocolate. No alcohol in the taste, medium to full body dark crimson body, easy to drink, smooth and creamy mouthfeel.

Overall:
I could find myself drinking this all day. So much rich flavors and yet so damn smooth. For those that don’t want a super boozy chocolate cherry beer, this fits the bill right here. Lots of flavor complexity with rich sweetness and not overwhelming booziness. Yeah I think I really like this one a lot that I will definitely pick this one up again. Not just worth one try, but several. Especially since all the other great cherry chocolate beers are sometimes harder to find.

Anime Corner:
Asmodeus (Lust) from Seven Deadly Sins was used in this pairing to represent Abundance. Abundance in the sense that this is liquid pleasure to your taste buds. It’s a guilty pleasure. A cherry chocolate and dark fruit guilty pleasure of a beer. This Asmodeus isn’t evil, she only is by name and association with sin. She is very sweet and very approachable and as you can see, there is an Abundance of her to go around. So give her a try, you may like this devil’s water.

Sources:
http://enjelia.deviantart.com/art/7-Deadly-Sins-Asmodeus-394843440

Rating: 5.45/5

Parrot in a Palm Tree by Karl Strauss is an 8.5% ABV Holiday Baltic Porter aged in Port Wine Barrels

Label:
In San Diego, we’re not known for our partridges or pears but we can all relate to those noisy parrots and their relentless “caroling”. Parrot in a Palm Tree is a robust Baltic Porter brewed especially for the Holidays. Aged two months in San Pasqual Tawny Port barrels, the resulting brew isn’t for the birds. This winter warmer boasts a complex bouquet of dark fruits, espresso and chocolate, with hints of oak in its warming finish. Raise a glass to 2010 or save a bottle as this limited release will age with the best of them.
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A rare beer that I was only able to find online. This beer is the first in the Twelve Days of San Diego Christmas beers. Aged 3 years so far as the beer came out in 2010. Just the fact that it is aged in port wine gives me that reminiscence of Troise Pistoles. I have been looking for the previous versions of the Karl Strauss Christmas beers. Last year I had the third installment, Mouette à Trois (Three Seagulls) which I reviewed and though the world of that beer. The fact that it aged since 2010 and in Port Wine? I can only think the world of this beer.

Aromas:
Just like the Bruery’s Partridge in a Pear tree, very rich dark fruit raisins, figs, plukms, dark cherries, raspberries, sweet port wine, grapes, chocolate, pecan pie, brown sugar, fruit cake, light coffee, caramel, vanilla, dulce de leche caramel, toffee, strawberry marmalade and raisin bread pudding

Flavors:
Good amount of rich port wine but nothing that burns, pleasant raisins, chocolate, mocha, coffee, java, hazelnut, pecan pie, fruit cake, molasses, Blackberries, currant marmalade, vanilla, dulce de leche, raisin bread pudding, rich figs, coconut, and brownies.

Aftertaste:
The aftertaste leaves off rich as well, with nice figs, raisins, port wine, chocolate, coffee and fruit cake breadiness. Hard to detect the alcohol in the taste, but if anything it brings a great splash of flavors. Easy to moderate drinkability with hardly any harshness. Kinda smooth really

Overall:
Freaking great and very delicious. Exceeding expectation but expected from a beer that is aged in port wine barrels and tasting like Trios pistoles, but also close to the initial flavors of the Bruery’s Partridge in a Pear Tree (except the pear). That and I love parrots. Sue me, I just do. Each flavor I had mentioned earlier is not only notes, but actual nice rich flavors coming through Highly recommended if you can find it. It is aging very well and hopefully by the 12th Christmas of San Diego release will be just at peak.

Anime Corner:
Dizzy is one of the characters from the Guilty Gear series. In the Art work, it matches the beer label as she is with the parrots. The colors are representative of the label as well. In terms of the complex flavors, it brings forth one of her ultimate features, which is complexity of power and emotions. The sweetness of this beer and complexity only shows you part of her true potential. If this beer is mean to age until the 12th release of the Christmas of San Diego beers, her true potential will reach its peak.

Vocaloid Hatsune Miku in the second picture represents the same color as the parrot thus complimenting the label. That is about it for my visual comparison. She is also sweet like this beer.