Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter
An amplified robust porter with a deep black color, a roasty malt flavor and a rich malt sweetness that’s smooth and drinkable.
A hearty cellar beer.
Available: March to April
ABV. 7.5% IBUs 60
A hearty cellar beer.
Available: March to April
ABV. 7.5% IBUs 60
3.8
418 reviews
Hood River, United States
Community reviews
Enjoyed this one. Note that it’s barely in the imperial category, given most craft beer today it’s not too extreme, relatively easy drinking. Pours dark brown with moderate head. Very roasty, nutty, dry hoppy finish. Drinks pretty easy and doesn’t get to heavy at all. Good porter.
September 30, 2011 with blankboy, garthicus, gregclow, jerc and mabel. bomber c/o blankboy. Nearly opaque reddish brown-black with a fairly large creamy/frothy light brown head. Smells like a porter with more than usual alcohol presence - dry nutty roast, a little gluten and cereal sweetness, some floral bitterness, but not a lot - coffee and baker’s chocolate. Taste follows, more bitterness, and it’s surprisingly gritty and earthy, nowhere near as sweet - and more dark chocolate. Slick, decent body and chewy, mild carbonation, and a slightly burnt/bitter malty finish, fresh-turned earth in the aftertaste (in a good way).
Poured from 22 oz. bottle marked "brewmaster reserve 2011." I aged the bottle for about 9 months.
Opaque, near black with a very thin yellow-brown head and very good lacing.
Aroma of roasted coffee, sweet bourbon, chocolate, roast smokey malt and plums.
Taste of sweet roasted malt, burnt toast, molasses, thick black coffee, plums and grapefruit and other subdued citric hop flavors. Starts sweet and smokey with a slightly tart grapefruit and plum finish.
Medium body and light carbonation.
An interesting beer. Not quite a porter, but not quite a stout either. A sweet, robust, smokey stout with a slightly hoppy finish. I believe this beer benefited greatly from aging as both the bourbon aroma and the hoppy finish seemed to have mellowed and rounded out the beer nicely. I'd like a little more carbonation to improve the head and the mouthfeel, but still a quite enjoyable quaff.
--From a bomber it pours a deep brown/black with a tan head. While the aroma is sweet malt and a hint of dried dark fruit, the taste is a chocolate bomb! There is also a dark dried fruit note present. (UDBEERNUT & his wife are right…plums. Oh yeah!) Wonderful combination! The mouthfeel is full, rich and smooth. Hop bitterness and carbination are held to a minimum. Excellent porter! Will buy and drink again.
-Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone
31st October 2009
Post Borefts I Invasion of Fonefan and Charlottes room tasting! Opaque black porter. Good carbonation and a semi dry palate. Rich dark malt, slightly toasty and a somewhat bitter. An interesting contrast to the high carbonation! Finishes crisp!
Oil black hue with small head. Roasted nose with booze on the edges. My wife says she detects plum. I agree. Big malty sweet body with balance coming from both hop bitterness and smoke. Still leans to the sweat side of the scale. Flowery hop does linger a bit on the finish.
Originally reviewed: 9/18/09. Big bomber poured into my pint glass. Pours a very thick dirty motor oil black with a frothy tan head resting on top. Great retention. Leaves plenty of sticky lacing in its wake. Smells of rich chocolate, freshly ground coffee, and roasted nuts. This is very effervescent and strong. I’m digging this so far.
The mouth is thinner than I would expect from the pour. It’s not very thick in the mouth. Carbonation level is moderate. This is a very roasty dark bitter porter. I like it. Big chocolate tones, a mild tartness in the middle, and finishes nutty. Very good beer.
22oz bomber, pours dark brown with dark brown head that lingered. Aroma was big malted chocolate. No hop aroma at all or if it masked by the chocolate. The flavor is lip smacking good. Chocolate and coffee blend. The after taste you get that bitter/cooking chocolate flavor. Medium alcohol burn down to you belly. Medium body goodness. Roasted malts are prevalent in the flavor. Very good beer.
Bottle. The pour was a very dark brown, almost black with a large (2-3 finger) dark beige rocky head that lasted a good amount of time, leaving behind a large frothy collar and a bit of puddling creating some excellent sticky lacing.
The aroma was screaming of milk chocolate along with a strong dark roasted malt and a sweet doughy yeast and had notes of roasted coffee, molasses, and a bit of vanilla.
The taste was bitter sweet and quite malty with notes of molasses and a good bit of coffee early on. Then it became a slight bitterer and really smooth and creamy with notes of milk chocolate and a very distinct vanilla presence at the end. The flavor lasted a decent duration with a nice mocha coffee flavor left lying on the taste buds.
Mouthfeel was just a bit under full in body with a smooth creamy texture and a soft carbonation.
Overall an exceptional Imperial Porter that is so well put together you can hardly notice the high alcohol content. Shame this brew is now retired...
22oz bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of roast, chocolate, some vanilla, and a touch of smoke. Tastes of roast, chocolate, some caramel, and the same light smoke. Some what thin.
Bomber, cellared for nearly a year. Pours just about black with a smallish tan head. Aroma and flavor are quite smooth and rich: quite a lot of chocolate and vanilla, some coffee, lots of roast malt. Sweet up front; fairly dry finish. Bitterness from the roast malt is pretty muted. Mouthfeel is somewhat thick, nice and smooth.
shared bottle with brother; deep black pour. aroma of roasted malts choc; etc. taste similar solid porter
Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a black color with a medium sized creamy brown head that lingered and left incredible lacing. The aroma was faint vanilla, chocolate and a touch of hickory. The flavor was light toasty and wood y malts with notes of chocolate, marshmallow, vanilla and a bit of cherry. The finish was medium length toasty malts, wood and vanilla. Medium body but creamy. Too subdued overall. Decent.
Bottle courtesy of TheCheeseman’s cellar. Labeled as Full Sail Imperial Porter. Pours almost black with very little head. Aroma is chocolate and sweet. Flavor hampered by being thin bodied, but mellow chocolate and malt with the hop bitterness being mostly aged out. Held up well.
Awesome brew! Pours black with minimal head/lacing. Light smokey coffee aroma. Taste is very smooth smoke/coffee with a little chocolate. Finishes long and smokey. Would probably be a great cigar beer.
Bottle. Poured very dark, black with a creamy tan head. Nose of roasted malt, chocolate & coffee, light sweet malt, and some mild hops. Taste is also roasted malt, light hops, warming finish. Pretty typical imperial porter. Overall, a decent brew.
Bottle from Ron, thanks Ron! Very dark, could see no highlights, thick foamy head. Big dark chocolate nose with roasted malt notes. Nutty and malty palate complete with chocolate and a touch of coffee. Very nice.
2007 22oz, reviewed last year. Pours out really black, tan head, looks really good. Nose is very roasted, sweeter fruits, dried apricot, chocolate, cocoa powder. First sip is decent, bitterness from a coffee flavor rips the mid to finish, sweetness up front, complexity isn’t that great pretty light. I thought this one might have had more of a cocoa influence, but overall solid considering the age. The bitterness lingers as you continue to drink it. Solid for the money.
22 ounce bottle pour. Almost black color with a light tan head. Chocolate notes in the aroma and taste. Creamy and smooth. Nice.
22oz bomber
Aroma: Chocolate, fruity yeast, caramel, fruity hops
Taste: nutty, chocolate, fruit from yeast and hops
A lite easy to drink Imperial Porter. Nice!
[4002-20110930] 1pt6floz bottle. Burnt toast charcoal aroma has a little sweet coffee grounds. Dark brown black body with a medium-lasting foamy tan head. Burnt coffee-infused charcoal toast flavour. Full body. Good, solid, not cloying but a little one-dimensional. (7/4-/7/3/15) 3.6
(c/o blackboy, w/ him, garthicus, GregClow, HogTownHarry, jerc)
My bottle (22oz) shared with HogTownHarry, garthicus, GregClow, jerc & mabel. Labeled ’Imperial Porter Brewmaster Reserve 2011’. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with an average size diminishing frothy light-brown head -- almost oily looking. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, cream and light leafy hops. Dry flavour of coffee and roasted malt along with leafy hops, nuts and cocoa. Alcohol is well hidden. Medium bodied, slightly creamy mouthfeel. Good stuff, I really liked it.
Bomber, Imperial Porter label, from Whole Foods Market Charlottesville, VA. Pours a dark brown color with a medium sized creamy head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of roasted malts and chocolate. The taste is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and a bitter hop finish. Medium bodied.
2011-09-30. Black bodied with a medium sized foamy brown head that fades. 3+ Modest aroma of dry dusty roast malt, hints of dry cocoa. 6+ Flavour is similar, dry dusty malt, light roast and cocoa, light anise like character underneath. 6+ Average bodied palate is okay but light for my preferences. Decent but not entirely to my tastes. Bottle labeled Imperial Porter Brewmaster Reserve 2011, shared by Blankboy
Pours black into a Sam glass. Mocha head with medium retention recedes leaving trailing spiders. Toasted chocolate and roasted coffee aromas. Dry with dark caramel and chocolate upfront turning to an espresso middle before the lasting slightly smoky resin finish.
Deep thick brown, amber at the edges, a darkish porter. A warm light-brown head. Aroma is chocolate, pine, light coffee, hints of berry. Super pleasant aroma! Medium bodied (surprisingly light for the flavor). A biting coffee roast dominates with a fresh resiny bitterness. Moderate nuttiness, not very sweet, just enough to keep you from puckering.
Nice black body with dark brown head. The mouthfeel is actually pretty thin for the style and a little lacking for sure. The flavor is nice bitter flavors of coffee and cocoa with roasted and semi-sweet malt. Overall it’s nice, but nothing really exciting.
Bottle. Pours black with a brown/tan head. Nose/taste of rich milk chocolate, vanilla, black coffee and roasted black and chocolate malts. Some earthy hops in finish. Body a little on the thinner side for an imperial but still full of flavor. Excellent over all porter. One of the better ones for the price.
Pours dark black with nice off white/tan head. Aroma has notes of chocolate, coffee, toffee, roasted notes, very classic porter notes in there, touch of earth and biscuit as well. Taste is nice and fairly full, with notes of toffee, caramel, some espresso and dark chocolate, touch of earthy notes, roast and a slightly sour grain type finish. Pretty good stuff.
Bottle at Craigs. A black beer with a fair tan head. Aroma of dark chocolate and roasted barley. Flavours of chocolate, caramel, coffee, roasted barley and toast. A little bitter. Nice.