Flying Fish Porter
A robust, smooth and full bodied with prominent chocolate notes. Five different malts from both the U.S. and Belgium and three varieties of hops (all from the Pacific Northwest) are required to give the beer its unique character.
3.4
164 reviews
Somerdale, United States
Community reviews
Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, his bottle via trade with Thaichile. Poured clear ruby-mahogany with a large foamy-creamy lasting tan head - nice looking, but looked more like a nutbrown. Very dry roast malt aroma, quite a lot of grain and straw, with some chocolate and light hops .. mild fruit and cola sweetness on warming. Taste really makes me think of a roastier nutbrown - tart fruit, roast malt, dry hops, with a medium bitter average-length finish, still some cola-sweetness lingering as aftertaste. Dry, very lively mouthfeel - my first thought was this is a very weak-bodied porter, but it really is just about right - in fact it’s probably quite authentic, as blankboy noted, we’re just used to porters that are more in the way of stouts ... this is perhaps a bit like the Nethergate Old Growler, just toned down some.
24-Mar-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 21-Mar-06 in trade with Lou18, thanks Lou!) Lord knows what was going through my mind when I rated this the first time. Belgian notes? No. It’s roasty and chocolaty, as expected, moderately sweet and light bitter, but this beer tastes very yeasty, and not in a Belgian yeast kind of way. Again, the yeastiness is probably even more prominent in the nose. Medium bodied, somewhat creamy, solidly carbonated. Medium brown in color, somewhat ruddy. A good inch of tan head forms on the pour, settling to a wide ring. A few spots of lace stick to the glass. Not a bad porter at all, it’s actually rather enjoyable, but the yeastiness needs to be far less prominent.18-Apr-05 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 04-Mar-05 in trade with slob, thanks Bert!) There are some seriously unexpected Belgian notes in this porter that have totally caught me off guard. Yeah sure, the porter is fairly roasty and appropriately bitter, it’s malty and quite sweet, and that’s fairly common with American porters, but this Belgian character is totally unusual. I wouldn’t call it spicy, per se, but something is saying "Belgian" to me. Sweet, malty, lightly roasty nose. Medium bodied could use a bit more viscosity, but is at least acceptable. Color, when held to light, is a very deep and dark, but slightly translucent mahogany. Light tan head is of modest size after the pour, and dissipates to a thin sheen before I could even rinse out the bottle. A few small streaks of lace are deposited on the glass. Decent, but not in my upper echelon. (7, 3, 7, 3, 14 = 3.4)
12oz bottle from lou18. Darkish bro wn color with a light off white head. head dies downb to a film and outer ring. nose is metallic, dry bittesweet chocolate. Flavors of metal, light chocolate. Palate is light and fluffy, finishes with little bitterness and a dry palate. Nose has more chocolate now, like a chocolate fondu pot. More chocolate in the finish as well. Palate is more complete with a light syrupy feeling.
bottle courtesy of OhioDad in a very recent exchange. great aroma of semi-sweet chocolate and flavors of chocolate, coffee and a hop presence on the tail end. nice porter, thanks Scott.
Bottle from lou18 Thanks! Pours a nice black with a creamy, foamy head. Clinging lace. Hoppy aroma, with bits of chocolate and candy. Flavor is a rounded caramel with heavy chocolate; strange, subtle. Slight coffee tones permeate the sip. A bit of fruit tries to assert itself in the finish. Strawberry? Palate is suitable. Nice beer.
Thanks to Lou18 for this one. Poured dark brown with a tan head. Aroma was nutty chocolate, coffee, and malts. Flavor was sweet chocolate with some coffee. Oh so smooth and creamy. Milky like chocolate with cream. The sweet chcolate and creamy texture of this one made it a real treat.
dark brown with big nutbrown head. drinkable and fine. roasty and nutty with a hint of chocolate, the brew is not spectacular, but solid.
Not bad, but nothing like the coffee porter on cask. A deep, not-too-sweet roastiness with some nutty and coffee flavors, not much chocolate, and a little creaminess. Medium mouthfeel with some acidity.
Nice aroma. Lovely in the glass, dark with a little creamy beige head. Flavor was lacking, one of the lightest porters I’ve had. Not at all bad, but very thin in flavor and mouthfeel. Super subtle hints of chocolate with a dry finish.
one of the most unremarkable beers I’ve tried. very watery and lacking flavor, depth and body. The look is good...being fr NJ, I was expecting something more.
Thanks to JSquire, at Indy 12/10 gathering. Dark black pour with tan head. Sweet malts and a decent amount of roastedness and a light wood character. Very roasty in the flavor which becomes sweet and then back to a nice toasted malt finish. A little bit of fruityness also appears.
Indy gathering 2005 from JSquire. This bottled brew poured a large sized head of foamy fine to medium sized mostly lasting light brown colored bubbles that left behind an unnoted lacing. The body contained no carbonation, was unnoted and dark ruby red brown in color. Its aroma contained notes of malty sweet . Its mouth feel is with a palate and a aftertaste. Its flavor contained thin porter like malty sweet notes. A very average brew.
(deliberately) warmed bottle. Fruity gummi-sugar aroma. dark brown with a little beige head. tastes like tutti frutti candy, chocolate coffee on the finish. alcohol shows through a bit, in an OKish way. Best flying fish I’ve had yet, (but then again I don’t like this brewery’s brews much.)
Dark pour but clear, decent head and lace. Sweet roasty malts. Chocolaty, but grains show through too much in this beer. Pretty thin and not much to it.
12 oz. bottle. courtesy of Zathrus13. Dark ruby with brown-orange tinges. Small light tan head. Sweet malt, brown sugar, and a lactic tinge in the aroma. Caramel, chalky chocolate. Citrus and metallic hop flavors and some bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is light medium, fairly dry.
(Bottle courtesy ’jsquire’ Indy tasting 12/10/05) Aroma is roasted dark malt, cheap coffee, and chocolate. Pours black with medium head and decent lacing. Flavor is a little fruity, roasted carmel and chocolate malts with that light coffee taste in the background. Palate is creamy, clean, and a bit thin. Not bad.
dark brown pour and a grey light orange head. caramel tea aroma. caramel, lime, and chocolate taste. light honey finish that is hollow. some tart grape in the finish too.
A solid porter: nice roast. A lot of complexity to the flavour: some fruity tones emerge from the roast. Fairly subtle and balanced: the hops blend very well and the amount of roast is just perfect! My main complaint is that it was very flat, and perhaps a tad too sweet.
Bottle. Thanks to someone at the Indy Circle City Samplers rate party. Pours a deep deep amber color that appears black outside of the light. Frothy dark tan head. Aroma is roasty with hints of wood, coffee and malt. Flavor somewhat sweet, with dry roasty malts. Very breadlike. Foams on the palate, very strange, yet creamy. This is a very complex beer.
Pours with a large, fluffy, light brown head that sits atop a a brilliantly clear deep, deep amber colored beer (really almost black) that shows bright amber highlights around the edges. The aroma is a mix of lightly roasted fruit (like raisins and concentrated plums) and soft roast notes made up of lightly roasted coffee and toasted malt. I am really quite surprised how fruity the aroma is, I was expecting something a bit more clean and malt focused, shows you what I know.
Wow, the beer is incredibly well carbonated and almost vaporizes as it hit my tongue. I am certainly going to need to de-gas this puppy to enjoy it. Ok that is done, what is the beer like? The beer is lightly sweet with a forward fruitiness that reminds me of raisins, figs and perhaps a bit of ripe plum. There is a saccharine sweetness that carries through almost to the end of this beer. The malt really becomes noticeable towards the end of a sip, there is a drying roasted malt note, a hint of chocolate, and a definite bready-toasted note that reminds me of crusty bread pulled fresh from the oven.
As the beer warms up the fruitiness really starts to take over, it almost becomes a bit too much. This beer seems a bit thin on the palate as well, probably a byproduct of the over carbonation.
12-oz. bottle via Secret Santa. Pours dark brown, near black, with enough light penetrating to show the brown over the black. Small frothy tan head that dissipates to a mere bubbly rocky film and some lined lacing. Aroma is noticeably chocolate malt (cookie), medium to dark roasted, with some sweetness circling the nose and faint yeast character, light hops politely masked by the dark malts. Fizzy yet creamy dark sweet chocolate malt flavor, lightly acidic, leathery yeast is barely noticeable, with a slight bitter hop finish, not lingering though. Medium to dark bodied fizzy and spicy, creamy palate.
Very nice porter. Right on for the style. Enjoyed at the 2005 Split Rock Beer Festival.
Bottle - courtesy of slob. Dark brown to near black with splashes of mahogany around the edges where the light attempts to penetrate. The small foamy tan head bubbles up hoping it will mature further but receeds as quickly as it formed. Nose is not unlike most porters - roasted malts, coffee notes, dark chocolate, and a bit of the hops coming through. Taste is more dark chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, hint of molasses, and some dusty cocoa flavors. Body is creamy at times but then has some sharpness from the carbonation. It’s an odd conflict of mouthfeels. Medium overall with a light bitterness remaining. Finishes with more chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, light hops, and some dark fruits. Pretty nice stuff - would be a great session beer, especially on draft!
Deep burgundy with red edges. Chocolatey aroma - huge chocolatey aroma, actually. Nice smooth palate. Chocolate is dominate in the flavors, as well, with notes of grape jelly - no, really - and a dryish finish. Thanks, Sacret Santa!
This one is right there with Anchor. The six-pack version is just as good as the keg version. Try it, you’ll like it.
Bottle: Dark dark brown, thin light beige head, foamy, so-so lacing. Roasted malt nose, slight unsweetened cocoa, and a whole lotta cow pasture. Fairly nice cocoa flavors, malty, not as roasty as the nose suggested. Luckily the cow pasture is not there on the tongue. Body and mouthfeel are fairly average. Clean finish, somewhat quick, low hop profile, lingering chocolate malt perhaps. Nothing spectacular, but not bad either. Thanks Jeff!
Bottle poured a dark brown with a creamy amber head. Aromas of coffee, cocoa powder, and chocolate milk. Palate was medium bodied and very smooth. Flavors of chocolate milk, mocha, and a hint of coffee with a smooth slightly sweet finish.
Pours a medium-to-thin viscosity. Black on its own with mahogany accents when put to light, and a bubble island in the center for the head with a routinely replenished tan wrung on the outskirt. Dark chocolate powder registers in the nose first, complimented by bubble gum, melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, mocha java and chocolate milk. Fuller flavor than expected. Sweet tendencies of brown sugared oats and Hershey syrup in an iced, blended cappuccino. The tribute to the agility of the cocoa bean continues with sludgy chocolate milk and hot chocolate brought to room temperature overnight. Medium-bodied with a well executed balance combination. On the palate, it’s in and it’s out; over and done with. No time for soliciting. At most, there’s a mild dry lingering on the finish when all’s said and done. Nice, solid robust chocolate porter. Thanks to Thaichile for the bottle!
Tangy, chocolate, coffee, slightly sour. River water brown with a thin head. Low coffee and chocolate and some underpowered roastiness as well. Lacks flavor intensity.
12oz bottle via trade from Lou18 - Thanks Lou! - Pours black with ruby highlights and a beautifulf foamy tan head that lingers and laces quite well. Aroma of chocolate and coffee and a bit of floral hops. Flavor is much the same. Nice hoppy finish that I liked much. Palate is medium bodied with pretty lively carbonation. Nice coffee bitter finish that I liked alot. This is a pretty nice porter. I enjoyed it!