Caldera Brewing Company
Mogli Imperial Chocolate Porter (Kettle Series)
American Porter
Oregon
8.5%
22oz, Single
$14.99
Two fingers of dark tan to brown foam, fairly even surface, with more residual turbulence at the pour point, nice retention, takes some time to get down to a thinner surface dusting, the lacing forms broad solid sheets which slowly drop down into the glass. The liquid looks black from a distance but up close you see that it's really a deep, deep brown, fully opaque until a yellow aura develops at the edges where you can also see scattered bubbles break the surface. The nose is overloaded with sweet milk chocolate scents, behind this juggernaut is a pleasingly smoky roastiness, ginger, vanilla bean and pie crust, not especially fruity, some plum or fig, manages the booziness quite well and the bourbon/oak element woven in so as not to distract. Full-bodied while managing a steady clip across the palate, in no way too heavy nor cloyingly sweet and sticky. Here the chocolate much roastier with as much of a cocoa powder feel as milk chocolate bar. Still, not quite coffee bean level, softened by caramel, vanilla accents. More grainy than doughy, adds to prickly texture. In the same vein the carbonation offers substantial churn and works to stem excess sweetness. In the end, for all of the chocolate and oak influence tastes more like a porter than a stout, which was in doubt at the outset.
4 out of 5