RCH Old Slug Porter Dark Ale

Great British Beer Festival Real Ale in a Bottle Bar 2006

ABV: 4.5%
Origin: Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
Website: www.rchbrewery.com

RCH Old Slug Porter Dark Ale

RCH, a veteran among British micros of bottle conditioned ales, originated behind the Royal Clarence Hotel at Burnham-on-Sea in 1983, thus its acronymic title, but moved to a former cider mill in Weston a decade later and significantly expanded at the turn of the millennium.

Old Slug porter, named after the shell-less molluscs that infested the hotel garden, might sound unappetising but is justly celebrated and multi-award-winning as one of the earliest revivalist porters still in production. There’s a grist of pale, crystal and black barley malts, with traditional Fuggles and Goldings hops.

It’s very dark, with a rich cream head and a burnt pastilley liquorice and vanilla aroma. A bubbly palate has nutty coffee and liquorice, with slightly herbal burnt fruit, firmly dry with developing hoppy bitterness. There’s dark malt and coffee notes in the finish with some burnt vine fruit, tangy plum and sage flavours.

Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/rch-old-slug-porter/5846/