Brewery: Haanbryggeriet (Norway)
Beer: Norse Porter , 6.5% ABV, 32 IBU, 89 EBC, 500ml bottle
Listed Ingredients: Marris Otter Pale, Munich, Crystal and Brown Malt + some Chocolate Malt and ots of Hops for bittering and aroma
Style: Porter
Rating: 4.1/5
Reviews on BeerAdvocate
Vegan Friendly

Haandbryggeriet: Norse Porter

Appearance: Pitch Black, pours a chocolate coloured head with hints of sediment. 4/5

Aroma: Very rich malty chocolate and coffee. Strong roasted aromas with a hint of smoke. Some alcohol. 4.5/5

Taste: Surprisingly strong alcohol taste, although it’s not such a strong porter. Roasted malt and dark chocolate, like a strong espresso; some bitterness too. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Soupy, full bodied. 4/5

Overall: I feel like this could be a great porter, but somehow the alcohol comes through too strong, and it feels like they’ve tried to pack a little bit too much into this beer. Still, it’s a great porter and certainly differs from the standard. One point worth noting: when I opened the bottle (cool room temperature), I got a huge burst of foam and beer coming out. I lost a portion of the bottle due to this, but more importantly this suggests that the post-fermentation has gone a bit wrong. That may be responsible for the strong alcohol taste as well — indeed, it’s possible that there’s more alcohol here than stated. 4/5

Another point: my bottle was bought from the US, imported by ‘Shelton Brothers’. It’s labelled as ‘Norse Porter’, but BeerAdvocate tells me that this is an alias for HaandBryggeriet’s porter. That doesn’t seem to be the case: BeerAdvocate reports the ABV as 6.0%, but my bottle says 6.5%. So clearly there’s something strange going on here… HaandBryggeriet’s website lists a ‘Norse Porter’ with these characteristics.

Let me conclude the review by praising the four guys at Haandbryggeriet a little: I’ve had some excellent beers of theirs, such as Norwegian Wood, Nissefar, and Dark Force. They’re all at the very top end of the thousands of beers I’ve tried, with a great character and story to them. I hope to review more of their beers in the future, at the moment I’ve got Odin’s Tipple waiting!