REVIEW: RCH Old Slug Porter

In the past I've done weeks here on the blog that had a bit of a theme. A week when I would do nothing but barleywines, or nothing but beers from MadTree. Nothing like that will be happening here in the foreseeable future. I've got a whole mess of beers sitting it my fridge at the moment and I'm just going to be grabbing what sounds good at the moment. So that lead's us to today's beer, Old Slug Porter from RCH Brewery. I'm a sucker for a funny animal sidekick so the mustachioed monocled gastropod on the label has me thinking pretty highly of this beer already. To the beer!

Old Slug pours just this side of completely opaque black. Only when held to the brightest light do small reddish brown highlights become evident. The head builds to a tall frothy quite persistent layer that remains as a thin rim above the beer down to the very last sip and leaves some nice, spotty lacing on the way down.

Strong notes of creamy milk chocolate lead on the nose followed by a more subtle roasty coffee note. A bit of toffee in there as well. It's nice and sweet, and pretty simple but there's something incredibly inviting about the aromas coming off of this beer.

Old Slug is light to medium in body with a pretty lively carbonation that lends a very nice creaminess. That leads to big flavors of semisweet chocolate and a bit of coffee roastiness. Some burnt toffee and caramel flavors come in afterwards. Old Slug definitely leans malt heavy but it does have just enough in the way of hops to balance and to finish with a very mild lingering bitterness.

There is nothing outwardly bold or brash about this beer. It's just a simple, sessionable, approachable, well crafted English porter. Lovely, yet very measured chocolatey flavors. I quite liked this one.

HD