Aldaris Porteris

[steveh]

A Baltic style (strong) Porter from Adaris Brewing, Riga, Latvia. 16.9 oz bottle, 6.8% ABV.

I originally grabbed this bottle of beer from the paint store shelf because my eyes read Latvia, but my brain registered Lapland (forgive me Summer, I don't know where my head was).

The beer poured a dark, ruby red with a thick, light tan head that settled to a nice, even, persistent foam. Lots of nice Belgian lace left in the wake of the head.

Chocolate, mollases, roasted malt nose with alcohol and faint hop undertones. Some diacetyl present as the beer warmed.

Big, chewey, caramel malt flavor. Hop and roasted malt undertones with alcohol present. Nice smooth roasty malt and sweet caramel aftertaste.

Medium to heavy, silky mouthfeel. Lingering sweet caramel stickiness.

A very nice brew, whether from Latvia or Lapland! More flavorful and smooth than other Baltic Porters I've sampled. Reminds me of a cross between a Munich Dunkel and a Schwartzbier. Hmm, 6.8%? Maybe a cross between a Dunkel and a Doppelbock! I see another bottle in my future.

S.

[MeridianFC]

One of my two locals (the Pharmacy Bar) is run by a first genration Latvian (native speaker and all that). He's been serving the various Latvian brews he can get his hands on. The first run in I had with them was the regular Aldaris lager which, quite frankly, was shite. There was then the Munchausen that was even worse. The Christmas brew an utter disaster. He got the Aldaris porter and I thought it was an improvement on the other two but not enough to make me order it. Apparently Aldaris has switched either importer or local distributor and Kristaps said to give it another try. The lager I still don't care for though I could tell a marked increase in quality. I tried the porter again and found it improved compared to my last sampling. There's still a bit of a background flavor that leads me to believe there a serious amount of corn/corn sugar in the brew. It still does not have the boldness I'd expect from a beer from that region, nor does it have the solid and well balanced flavor of the German beers that are the obvious ones to compare it to (it certainly ain't a British style porter). It could use a splash more of roast malt or bittering of some stripe IMHO.

[steveh]

Meridian - I understand your assessments of some of the Baltic Porters that are out there, which is why I was hesitant to sample the Aldaris after I'd realized the I.D. mistake I'd made. However, I was taken by surprise by this brew.

I don't know how long ago you tried the beer, or even if the bottle I had may have been old or new - maybe Aldaris even exports a different brew to the U.S? And I even read a few of its reviews at Beer Advocate and some of them seem to describe a different brew than the one I sampled last night.

Lots of changes at the brewery or huge inconsistencies? Dunno. Next time I pick up a bottle I'll choose one from the back of the shelf as well as the front. But I must say that I was pretty impressed with the beer, and found it very comparable to German dark lagers I've had, here in the U.S. and overseas - very well balanced and evenly flavored with a good roasted flavor that wasn't overdone. And yes, it is light in hop character as most dark lagers in Eastern Europe tend to be.

Also, most Baltic style Porters are bottom fermented Lagers. English Porter was a popular style in the region before the discovery of lager yeast, then the brewers adopted the style to the newer type of yeast and cold fermentation methods.

S.

[chazwicke]

Several years ago I tasted several Aldaris beers at a Latvian Tasting / Dinner at the Brickskeller. It was being presented by the folks who were trying to import it into the country at that point. I think I still have an Aldaris glass from the tasting. I recall thinking they were decent beers and they were very fresh. The trouble with that kind of event is that you tend to get caught up in the mood and your having native foods and the beer is fresher than it is when you eventually find it on the shelf. And, to some degree, you are swayed by the presenter. I am certain that I would have rated these beers differently had I just picked one up at the store. It was a fun tasting and dinner though.

[Beaver]

Man, steveh, you sure can make a beer sound good!

Any idea of how widely distributed this is? I've never seen it or even heard of it before.

[MeridianFC]

Steve,

It's been a few months since I've had one. I've sampled the various Aldaris beers at times over the past 3-4 years.

It could well be the condition the bottles I've had that have led to my take on that particular beer. As I said I've had it on more than one occassion and have seen a notable increase in quality, which I am putting down to better handing. I'll run down to the Pharmacy and try another one tonight to see if my opinion has changed in the past few months.

For me I can see the similarity to some German dark lager, Kostritzer Schwarzbier being the most obvious candidate, but not so much the Munich/Bavarian beers. I am a huge fan of Munich dunkel and there's an element to those beers I just don't see in anything outside of the city/region. They all have a certain sweet, bready, malt thing (from munich malt I would hazzard), that no other beers have. All the Munich/Bavarian beers have it to some degree. Andechser Dunkel being my favorite example (one of my absolute favorites period). Maybe I'm fixating too much on that element.

[chazwicke]

Steveh you have another lager ally here.

[MeridianFC]

As much as I go on (and on and on) about cask ale, there are many, many lagers I love. I've never been one for this either/or stuff. There's a whole world of beer out there. Andechser, Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner, St. Christofel, Brooklyn Pilsner, I could go on and on.

BTW don't get me started on my ideas for cask lager........

[steveh]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
For me I can see the similarity to some German dark lager, Kostritzer Schwarzbier being the most obvious candidate, but not so much the Munich/Bavarian beers. I am a huge fan of Munich dunkel and there's an element to those beers I just don't see in anything outside of the city/region. They all have a certain sweet, bready, malt thing (from munich malt I would hazzard), that no other beers have. All the Munich/Bavarian beers have it to some degree. Andechser Dunkel being my favorite example (one of my absolute favorites period). Maybe I'm fixating too much on that element.

I know the flavor you speak of in the Munich beers, I think we identified it as "melanoidins." A clearer picture of my comparison of the Aldaris Porter to Bavarian Dunkels might be based on those that I have available as imports, or those micros we have here in the States that attempt to recreate a Bavarian dark. The imports don't ever seem to hold up to the fresh taste I recall from Munich, and the majority of attempted recreations fall short - mostly due to their lack of using expensive imported Munich malts (admitted by Kirby Nelson of Capital Brewing in one interview).

The Aldaris had the fresh sweet malty flavor I always miss in those pretender beers, and just enough roasted flavor to make it interesting, as a Kostritzer on draft does - bottles are always a gamble.

I'll definitely pick up a couple more bottles for a scientific comparison on this one.

S.

[MeridianFC]

The things we do for science and the betterment of man.

:D

[steveh]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
As much as I go on (and on and on) about cask ale, there are many, many lagers I love. I've never been one for this either/or stuff. There's a whole world of beer out there. Andechser, Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner, St. Christofel, Brooklyn Pilsner, I could go on and on.

Ditto, from a reverse rotation (see my notes on the Cropton Monkman's Slaughter).

BTW don't get me started on my ideas for cask lager........

Didn't Richard mention that there was a cask lager at the GBBF? I'm pretty sure there was also one at the Real Ale Fest in Chicago.

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
The things we do for science and the betterment of man.

As I've said before; it's a dirty, thankles job - but somebody's got to do it! ;)

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Beaver
Man, steveh, you sure can make a beer sound good!

Thanks, but I have to credit good subject matter!

Any idea of how widely distributed this is? I've never seen it or even heard of it before.

I'd never heard of it before either. The Brewer, that is. I'll check the bottle for the distributor tonight.

S.

[MeridianFC]

Originally posted by steveh

Didn't Richard mention that there was a cask lager at the GBBF? I'm pretty sure there was also one at the Real Ale Fest in Chicago.

S.

Harviestoun's Schiehallion is apparently a lager but served cask. It's a really wonderful beer. I wouldn't be surprised if this was at the GBBF and even in Chi-town. Matter of fact I'd be shocked if it wasn't at the GBBF.

St. Georgen Keller Brau, is an unfiltered kellerbier, but I don't know how it's served in the keg. I think it's bottle conditioned, but I'm not really sure. Regardles it's feckin' tasty.

I posed a question about the cask lager thing in the "science poll whatever" section here. There's a world of opportunity for someone not as lazy or stupid as myself to blaze some new (well actually old) beer trails.

BTW I went down to the Pharmacy to have a Porteris, and they were out!

[barley ben]

The only Kellerbier I ever had was Tupper's Hop Pocket. That was bottle conditioned and oh so good. I think I gotta get some tomorrow. Haven't had it in a while and now I want some!

[steveh]

Originally posted by MeridianFC

St. Georgen Keller Brau, is an unfiltered kellerbier, but I don't know how it's served in the keg. I think it's bottle conditioned, but I'm not really sure. Regardles it's feckin' tasty.

I was able to sample St. Georgen in, of all places, Bamberg. As I recall, it was tapped from the same sort of "fass" as all the other beers - and agreed, quite the tasty brew - sadly, it doesn't hold up in the imported bottle. :/

BTW I went down to the Pharmacy to have a Porteris, and they were out!

Might be a good sign?

BTW, Ben - Is Tupper's Keller truly bottle conditioned, or does it just have residual yeast due to being a "true" keller beer? I don't know what sort of difference this would make in the aging of the beer, but I wondered if they referred to it as "bottle conditioned."

New Glarus Brewing from Wisc. also has a keller-style beer, their Zwickle. Named for the German word for the gravity tappers on lagering vessels.

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Beaver Any idea of how widely distributed this is? I've never seen it or even heard of it before.

The Aldaris Porteris is imported into the U.S. by Doyna, Ltd. in Brooklyn, NY. I tried to visit their web site, www.doynaamericawine.com, but you immediately get jumped to RussiaNY.com... hmm. And no sign of the beer.

S.

[barley ben]

I'll have to get back to ya of that. I'm going to the store later and even if I don't get some, I'll check it out. I believe it said it was bottle condotioned. I could be wrong since it's been a while.

[MeridianFC]

IIRC Tupper's is bottle conditioned.

[Beaver]

Thanks for trying steveh. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

[barley ben]

I just looked it up and it is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned pils.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
As much as I go on (and on and on) about cask ale, there are many, many lagers I love. I've never been one for this either/or stuff. There's a whole world of beer out there. Andechser, Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner, St. Christofel, Brooklyn Pilsner, I could go on and on.

BTW don't get me started on my ideas for cask lager........

Agreed! I love beer in general and find some cask ales to be almost orgasmic. However, there are times when I want a refreshing lager. And of course when traveling in Continental Europe (especially Germany) I love to try the great lagers.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
Harviestoun's Schiehallion is apparently a lager but served cask. It's a really wonderful beer. I wouldn't be surprised if this was at the GBBF and even in Chi-town. Matter of fact I'd be shocked if it wasn't at the GBBF.

St. Georgen Keller Brau, is an unfiltered kellerbier, but I don't know how it's served in the keg. I think it's bottle conditioned, but I'm not really sure. Regardles it's feckin' tasty.

I posed a question about the cask lager thing in the "science poll whatever" section here. There's a world of opportunity for someone not as lazy or stupid as myself to blaze some new (well actually old) beer trails.

BTW I went down to the Pharmacy to have a Porteris, and they were out!

The Schiehallion is indeed excellent. I have had it several times and it was at GBBF. It was also at the fest in Miami last year and hopefully will be there again next month. I cant wait! 64 cask ales. YUM!

[MeridianFC]

Originally posted by barley ben
I just looked it up and it is an unfiltered, bottle conditioned pils.

both the Pils and the Ale.

Originally posted by chazwicke
I cant wait! 64 cask ales. YUM!

Bastard. ;)

[chazwicke]

This looks interesting:

http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/index.html?botw

Wonder if we could get this in the States. Probably not :(

[fretlessman71]

Mrs. Fret found a few bottles of Aldaris Porteris in Denver tonight - will have to chill them down and wait for a nice cool evening to give them a whirl. They were apparently very cheap, too - $2.39 a bottle is very reasonable, wouldn't you say? :)

[chazwicke]

I don't remember too much about Aldaris beers from the tasting that they did here when they were attempting to get into the US market. I still have the glass though.