Hopfully 12 Lovers

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2019 | ABV: 6.5% | On The Beer Nut: December 2019

Today is Baltic Porter Day. Confelicitations to all who celebrate; the rest of you, keep up. For the occasion I've dug out this one from Hopfully's contract brewing days, produced at what's now their headquarters in Waterford but back then was still Metalman Brewing. According to my contemporary review, I liked it, even though it didn't present typical Baltic porter features to any great extent. Let's see if it's become any more authentic after a spell in the stash.

It still pours well, with the head forming exactly as perfectly as when fresh. There's only a very faint dark chocolate hint in the aroma, perhaps suggesting that its dark lager nature has reasserted itself. I think it has dried out: the flavour doesn't have the chocolate and caramel I described in the original version.

Instead, it's grown-up and savoury profile: dried grape, winter spices and alcohol, somewhere between a posh mince pie and a Negroni. The finish is a tarry sort of bitterness, with some strong green herbs, al dente asparagus and a twist of black pepper. There's complexity for days, and what I've written covers merely one facet of it. It's still not quite a proper Baltic porter, however: too big and too sticky, suggesting that if they did use a lager yeast in the first place, it hasn't taken.

Nevertheless, I deem this a triumph of ageing canned beer. It was my only stashed can, so if you have one, now is great for drinking it.

Guinness Draught

Origin: Ireland | Date: 2018 | ABV: 4.2% | On The Beer Nut: n/a

In 2018, the Christmas gift from Diageo to the media people on its PR list was eight litres of Guinness Draught. A big box containing two eight-packs of 500ml cans arrived on my doorstep. It's not a beer I'm especially fond of, but over the ensuing months, well into 2019, I got through them, one by one. Coming towards the end, though I can't tell you exactly when, I thought I noticed something: was the flavour changing? Improving, even? Is there a case for including this unlikely beer in my dubious and disorganised vintage beer project? With the idea planted, there was no question of me not doing it, so the final can went into the stash.

15th August 2019 is the date on the bottom of it. It's no different on pouring to the fresh version: the widget has maintained its payload perfectly. There's a little bit of aroma, the nitrogen not killing that end of things off completely, though there's nothing special, just the typical Guinnessy mix of dark dry toast and sharper acidity.

It's in the flavour where I think we've had some evolution. It's definitely more flavoursome than when young, and I wish I had a fresh can to hand to compare. The tartness has both increased and become more rounded, adding a kind of classy balsamic vinegar effect. Conversely, that finishes on a sweeter note, with some chocolate, which is something in most stouts that I find missing in Guinness, and a little maraschino cherry. We're back to regular programming with the quick finish and minimal aftertaste. 

While it's far from a radical transformation, especially for a solid six years of ageing, equally I've reviewed canned beers on here to which less had happened. That bonus burst of complexity in the middle of the flavour makes it a worthwhile experiment. Flanders red is one of my favourite beer styles, and this seemed to be on its way to becoming one. I'm going to try the experiment again, but for longer.