Meantime Coffee Porter
Style: Coffee Porter
Alcohol Content: 6%
From: Greenwich, London, England
Purchased from: Meantime Brew Shop, Greenwich
After months and months of badgering my girlfriend, she finally relented and agreed to accompany me on a tour of the Meantime brewery. When we arrived, I was quickly accosted by a proper London cockney known only a Big Al. This lemon squeezer (geezer) was certainly loud and proud of his East end roots. He dropped beautifully crafted one liners followed by ever so charming compliments. Quite frankly this man was a stand up comedian with a passion for craft beer and well worth the entrance fee alone! After a hour of his routine and several samples of beer (including my favourite Yakima Red), we embarked on a tour around the brewery escorted by the extremely knowledgeable Jack. It was certainly the most entertaining brewery tour I have ever attended and is well worth a repeat visit. Emma enjoyed it especially due the fact that Big Al asked her for some fashion advice. Turns out they are both big fans of Aquascutum (what ever that is?).
Meantime Brewery was founded by Alastair Hook in 2000. The originally Greenwich brewery was originally located 0° 2' 12" east of the Greenwich Meridian, moving to a site on nearby Blackwall Lane in 2010. This mission driven company aims to help the consumer rediscover their cultural and culinary beer heritage, which it believes has, in the UK at least, largely been lost as beer manufacture has been concentrated in the hands of a smaller number of ever bigger brewers, who do not wish the consumer to have any great understanding or appreciation of beer. Since opening the brewery has gone from strength to strength and their Coffee Porter won a gold medal at the world beer cup in 2008. Does the 2014 version hold its own? Let's find out.
Colour: Pours a thick, sticky jet black with a light tan head. The foamy head will stay around for the duration (always a good sign in my book).
Aroma: As you would expect for a beer with the word coffee in the label, the dominate aroma is bitter coffee. This aroma is underpinned with notes of dark chocolate from the blend of chocolate and roasted malts. Sublime stuff!
Body: Slightly lighter than Meantime's original London Porter, but this could be due to the fact I drank this rather promptly after removing it from the fridge. A noticeable thickening effect takes place after fifteen minutes in the glass. Note to self, always serve you drinks at the correct temperature.
Taste: Full of very heavy americano notes which linger longer due to the bitterness of the hops. An extra coffee kick is provided by the addition of freshly ground coffee during the mashing process. These beans help to add the essence of dark fruit whilst the roasted malts provide sweet chocolate notes on the dry finish. Each sip will have you gasping for more. Meantime really know how to make great beer and make me proud to say I'm a Londoner.
Different to:http://beefsbrewery.blogspot. co.uk/2013/07/hogs-back-hop-garden-gold.html
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