East India Porter (circa 1840) Historical recreation aged in neutral oak barrels with Brettanomyces for one year.
Looking at it, it seems like a typical porter, almost black with a creamy brown head. The aroma lets you know immediately that this is not a typical porter. Leather, oak, molasses and marmalade. Unbelievably complex.
The flavor is dry and vinous with deep cocoa notes. The bitterness has mellowed considerably in the barrel and is now nicely balanced. The dry hopping with East Kent Goldings give orange notes that makes me think of chocolate dipped orange peel. The finish has licorice notes like an Italian amaro.
A beer like this is literally from another era and is a glimpse into the beery past. Far more porter was sent to India than the now famous pale ale but it was given the same treatment: double the normal hops and long aging in barrels before shipping to India.
This beer won the Michael Jackson award for Best American Cask at the Great British Beer Festival years back.