Beer – #1051 – Kereru – Chocolate Cherry Porter
Kereru Chocolate Cherry Porter – one of a batch of new beers from Kereru, they’ve had a resurgence of late. I had a conversation with an ambassador recently about their beers, they were quite excited and enthusiastic, I said I’d write about them, we got on famously.
“…a lingering cherry..”
A 500ml bottle of a beer that is 65 IBU things and 5.5% ABV, making it 2.2 standard drinks in NZ, and about the 165 calories a serve size.
Kereru Chocolate Cherry Porter is a beer in the style that is a Porter – Flavored and it is brewed by: Kereru Brewing Company who are in windy Wellington
…When I’ve got it in me
Dark chocolate and tart cherries are balanced by rich malt and dark, toasted character of the barley.
The beer has a lingering cherry finish.
An impressive addition of tart, New Zealand cherries and Dominican cacao nibs rounds out this lovely porter to near perfection
So, What could possibly go wrong?
Well I fixed the Cheese and Cracker drama 🙂 I turned the music up a bit, and I’m going to get into it.
The beer should have warms from fridge cold, they say 10 degrees, but honestly who’s got a beer thermometer. So anyway.
The aroma on opening is one of a smokey beer.
The pour is magnificent, dark and with a billowing head of fluff that is darker white, and a bonus is that it looks like it’s a stayer. Aroma in the glass is the same smokey affair.
There’s a bitter bite, more a nip really, as this envelopes itself into something a whole lot softer and richer. A full mouthfeel that leaves you trying to pick out a single flavour, you know the cherry one, that should be in there, but it is elusive. It is there it’s not the front and centre of this beer.
There’s an interesting lingering at the end too, which fancifully I’m going to ascribe to the cherries as it’s that kind of not quite dry more an orchard fruit dry.
The cherries then, for me, are adding quite a lot of the work in this without a lot of the recognition. If you want out and out cherry then this isn’t your beer. If you want a sturdy and robust porter but with a lot more softness and easiness about the middle then this is the beer you are looking for.
Resulting in a beer that is very easy supping and quaffing, which isn’t a problem as this is a fairly easy on the alcohol level beer so you’d not be making a fool of yourself should you be in a position to stick on this for the evening, the only problem is the ease of the quaff, what a problem to have .
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. This is lovely, a pretty decent porter with the right aroma and a lovely look in the glass, a long lasting head that is full and glorious in it’s own right, then you get this pillowy softness and low-level richness in the middle that adds a lovely carry to a finish that is towards a dry without really getting there. You could write lyrics about this.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? Liquorland for mine, they’re in the good places
- Am I enjoying it? Yes it’s brilliant
- Would I have another? I would easily
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, this is a dark beer in a lovely style that is no bother to drink and has lovely nuance and subtlety about it that would make it an ideal bring and share.
Music for this: The Take Off And Landing Of Everything by Elbow which I’m playing on Vinyl but you can catch on Spotify
Elbow write glorious lyrics and tunes, that are well worth taking the time to get enjoying.
I am electric With a bottle in me
Got a bottle in me
And glory be these fuckers are ignoring me
I’m from another centuryI am a preacher When I’ve got it on me
And I’ve got it on me
And glory be these fuckers are ignoring me
We never learn from history
PORTER
Black or chocolate malt gives the porter its dark brown color. Porters are well hopped and heavily malted. This is a medium-bodied beer. Porters can be sweet. Hoppiness can range from bitter to mild. Porters are often confused with stout
A life just as ordinary 