grain bin logoI visited Grande Prairie a couple of weeks ago to attend a music festival (first ever Bear Creek Folk Festival – great time!). Being who I am I took some time out to visit the two new breweries in town, GP Brewing and Grain Bin. I didn’t succeed in an effort to visit with the GP folks (although did pop into their tap room), but did have a great visit with Grain Bin’s Dalen Landis (and his adorable daughter).

I will talk about the visit and the brewery in a future post – I am working on a report of my summer brewery tours. I will say for the moment the beer I sampled at the brewery had me feeling very optimistic about this new brewery; there is no question they are on the right track. While there I picked up a couple bottles of the only beer Grain Gin had in bottles at the time (they are mostly a keg-only brewery).

It was their Highway 666 Robust Porter. Clocking in at 8.8% the word robust might be an understatement. I cracked one of the bottles a few days ago (after my customary travel shock rest). It pours a dark, opaque brown. It looks more like a stout, actually. It creates a dark tan, medium sized head that hangs around for a long time. The aroma offers up molasses, dark chocolate, plum, and dark fruit. I also get hints of coffee roast lurking in background.

The sip begins with a similar strong dark fruit and molasses upfront. The middle brings out an estery sweetness and some alcohol. The finish dries out a bit and offers the quietest touch of coffee roast in the background, just enough to sharpen the beer. The linger is alcohol warming. Overall it has a rounded impression with an assertive ester profile.

I will say straight up this beer reminds me more of a Baltic Porter than a Robust Porter. Its size is the first giveaway. 8.8% is way above the Robust category. (Yes, I know Robust Porter has been erased in the 2015 BJCP Guidelines – but Grain Bin started it with their name and my brain still knows what a Robust Porter should taste like.) It also has the estery characteristics of a Baltic Porter.

I like this beer. It offers a complex array of flavours, especially as it warms up. I found I appreciated the beer more as I sipped it, which is always a good sing. The beer is also a demonstration that Grain Bin is a brewery that should not be trifled with – they know what they are doing. The old curmudgeon in me would have preferred they call it a Baltic Porter, but who the hell in Grande Prairie knows what that is? What I do know is they have created a very enjoyable strong porter that, in my opinion, would score quite high as a Baltic Porter.

Not bad for a beginner!