With this beer we welcome another Belgian brewery to our monthly beer packs. Nanobrasserie de L’Ermitage is a small brewery and taproom located in the Anderlecht area, in south-western Brussels. Really not that far from Cantillon.
I’ve now had a few beers from this brasserie, and all are well made and quite atypical in style for a Belgian brewery. And this beer is very un-Belgian-like, being an English style porter hopped up with Columbus and Chinook hops from the USA.
It pours quite dark and has a really rocky foam, with bubbles of all different sizes. It really seems quite lively for a dark beer!
Roasted malts dominate the aroma, with chocolate, coffee and even a hint of woodiness (or maybe tobacco). The flavour is a little softer with chocolate and vanilla softening out the roasted malt astringency. Coffee kicks in midway through, with some hints of dark stone fruits as well.
It finishes pretty dry, slightly hoppy without being too bitter. It probably isn’t as hoppy as I might expect and stops well short of being in the black IPA realm. There is a rustic nature to the finish, with earthy notes, leather, wood and a little tobacco lingering in the finish.
A smoked robust porter, hopped a little more than normal with a mix of Slovenian and US hops
The traditional style Porter from BBNo - no fancy additions, just a good ol' fashioned English Porter
An American style Porter with all the traditional porter characteristics plus a definite fruit and grassy hop character
A simple, traditional style porter 'made they way porters used to be'
De Molen's Imperial Porter - all the sweetness and complexity of an imperial stout, without the roasted bitterness
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
Smooth roasted malt, with hints of chocolate and coffee
An old 19th Century beer style, dragged into the current craft beer world by a creative and talented brewer
A classic English style porter, full of roasted malts and hints of chocolate
A delicious English style porter, with the addition of a subtle smoked malt
An English style porter, with secondary fermentation with the Drie Fonteinen lambic yeast
A collaborative West Coast Double IPA from L'Ermitage/Frontaal
