Innis & Gunn Scottish Porter

This beer takes its inspiration from the history books. As well as using flavour-packed chocolate and crystal malt, we also added treacle (molasses) which gives the beer its rich, bittersweet character. 100 years ago in Scotland, treacle was used by brewers to create depth and sweetness and to give beers a richer mouthfeel and more rounded finish.

3.2

307 reviews

Edinburgh, Scotland

Community reviews

2.8 Drunk in a bottle under the alias treacle porter pours like flat coca cola with very quick disappearing head tastes sweet and syrupy very light for a porter sounds better than it tastes missing the tan head and smokey taste of a great porter.

3.7 Looks dark brown, but in the glass it’s a deep garnet, beautiful against the light. Thick mocha head reduces quickly, with minimal lacing. Nose is malt, roast, nuts, brown sugar on the edge of burnt. There’s a nice Scotch edge to the taste, but without an alcohol burn. The other flavors follow the aroma, with a lighter body than expected. For a porter, it’s smooth and sprightly. A very decent brew, sessionable without grabbing attention.

3.2 Dark reddish-brown pour with a tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, sweetness of treacle?. Taste is roasted malt, treacle. Low carbonation. OK beer. So-so lacing.

3.1 Pours a black colour. Aroma is a bit soapy. Taste is of treacle and some sweetness. Syrupy malts on the palate

3.2 Aroma is grapes, malts and slightly perfumed. The flavor is grapes, dark malts, mild smokiness, mild/medium sweetness and a mildly acidic/tart finish.

3.0 Pours very dark brown with a bubbly character and a large lacy tan head that fades to a strong rim and coating. Aroma is dark malts, molasses and a touch of brown sugar. Very scotch ale like. Taste follows the aroma but with some boozy bitterness and an oaky roasted finish. Quite an active mouthfeel. Another review suggested this beer tastes like Jim Beam and Coke and I think that is a spot-on characterization. Almost no detectable chocolate flavor. This is a unique beer and well-made, but not one for the ages.

3.5 Good deep brown pour w/ a tan head that leaves lacing. The aroma is very nice! It reminds me of a Jim beam & coke & an aroma truly unique to a y beer that I’ve ever come across. The taste is far more of a scotch ale than a porter. It’s caramel sweet & lacking in any chocolate or roasty notes. I like the originality but whether or not it pulls it off, is in the palate of the beholder!

3.6 Poured beer from 11.2 oz brown bottle. Appearance looks expresso dark. Aroma with molasses along with a fruit note. Taste is mild booze, caramel, nuts, and brown sugar. Palate is medium but syrupy. Pretty good but very molasses-y, lol.

2.1 Chocolate and very treacle, dark red and dense with very minimal head. Very treacle taste - too sweet for my taste. Fairly thin, flat carbonation. Not a favorite.

3.4 Pours a dark redish amber with a small off-white head. Mild malty aroma reminiscent of root beer. Smooth creamy flavor with a light molasses finish.

4.0 Pours deep black but no head to speak of. Aroma of treacle and a touch of smoke with hints of chocolate and oranges but its a faint aroma. Taste is of treacle and a hint of bitterness. Very sticky. Tastes fantastic.

4.0 Nice, sweet smell and taste with a full flavor. Comes in 11.2 fluid ounce bottle after being matured for 39 days. Best drank between 36-42 degrees Fahrenheit.

3.3 11.2 ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine Pembroke Pines FL for $9.99/4-pk Very good.

3.4 Clear deep dark mahogany with an off white head. Aroma of candy and caramel, very sweet, very nutty, some bubble gum and toffee. Taste nutty and caramel at first, loads of bubblegum mid palate, roast, toast, and some ash at end. I can see why this is a "Scottish porter" - it’s what would happen if scotch ale and porter got together and had a child...

3.2 Bottle Lcbo. Red brown colour with beige head. Aroma is week with dark fruit, hops, toast, and gingerbread coockies. Taste is similar, but with a front load of molasses. Smooth, but thin for a porter. It’s interesting and yet it is still so much of the same from I & G.

3.4 330ml bottle in a box as Treacle Porter - Deep ruby red body, with a small fluffy beige head, which lasts fairly well but does not leave too much lacing. Aroma is treacle toffee, vanilla, some cake fruits and a bit of chocolate too. Taste is all over the place with this, but not in such a bad way, as the sweet treacle is married up with an odd floralicity*. Not as thick as I’d like, but still not too bad. * © jamesie1857

3.3 Bottle as Treacle Porter, pours dark brown with a beige head, woody vanilla nose, body perhaps more reminiscent of a sweet brown ale, hints of cocoa and vanilla, toffee and a faint herbal bitterness. Unusual and quite pleasant.

3.2 Bottle... Beautiful new-penny-copper pour with a mid-sized, fluffy, off-white head. Decent retention. The faint aroma is a malty fusion of caramel, molasses and maple. Full-bodied with tickling carbonation. The flavor is constructed of sweet caramel, toasted nuts, sorghum molasses and a light fruitcake nuance. Sweet, malty, sugary finish. No balance here. Not supposed to be, I suppose.

2.4 Doesn’t taste like a porter, and has the same heavy vanilla characteristics of one of their other "aged" beers, that tastes almost artificial.

3.2 330ml botte in box, pours back with a tan head. Aroma has the I&G characteristic toffee and oak, with chocolate and sweet treacle. liquorice, heavy cloying sweetness, lightly bitter, medium body, oily feel, average carbonation. A bit too sweet for me

3.5 The aroma has oak, brown sugar, chocolate, toasted bread and light hops. The appearance is dark brown. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is smooth. Overall a solid beer if not a porter.

2.8 Bottle at home. Pours dark brown. Interestingly tastes like all the others - sweet toffee and vanilla, don’t get the treacle or any porter characteristics.

3.2 Clear, dark brown, small tan head. Smell is faint, with hints of oak, liquorice, raisin, caramel and coffee. Taste is sweet and earthy, with hints of vanilla and cocoa. A bit light on the palate, soft carbonation, and a long lingering finish with a pleasant alcohol warmth to it. Good beer to warm up with on a cool evening.

3.6 Transfer from BA review on 4-13-14- Served on tap in a pint glass Appearance – The beer pours a dark brown color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head fades relatively quickly leaving a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass. Smell – The aroma of the beer is mainly of a caramel and molasses sweetness mixed with other aromas of a light chocolate and roasted malt aroma. Some more oaky and whisky aromas mingle with these, as well as a light vanilla and buttery toffee smell, which produce a rather sweeter and barrel like aroma overall. Taste – The taste is very much more Scottish ale or amber ale like then porter like. The tongue is met with a mainly caramel and molasses taste with it being on the more sweet and bready side. There is only a light hint of chocolate and roasted flavor that come to the tongue after the initial taste, with both of these flavors remaining rather light throughout the taste. While the roasted flavors remain rather light some more sweet flavors of vanilla and toffee come to the tongue with the toffee taking the place of the upfront caramel. A little bit of a darker fruit flavor of plum and raisin as well as some oakiness comes to the tongue at the very end, leaving a rather sweet, not very porter like, and malty flavor to linger on the tongue. Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the average side with a carbonation level that was on the slightly lower side. The carbonation level was rather nice for the scotch style/”porter” style of the brew, while a slightly thicker body may have helped with accentuating the lighter darker flavors of the brew, making them more pronounced. Overall – Not really a porter, but more of a wee heavy/scotch ale. It lacks a lot of roasted flavor which a porter should have in my mind, but it does have a nice blend of sweeter/sugary flavors with a nice maltiness. If looking for a scotch style ale then this is a good choice, but if looking for a robust dark porter then steer away. A nice brew, but just not a nice classification.

3.3 Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfffffdddddddrrrrrrr so many oak cubes. Butterscotch, uhhhhhh isn’t this supposed to be a porter? ie: darkish? Light clove, usual massive oak, faint early spice, maybe plum. I don’t know what this is. Not even remotely. I guess I’ll say that I am enjoying it and its pile of flavour. Mineral water. I liked whatever this was. No one can answer the question - what was this mislabeled beer?tjis absolutely was not a porter.

3.5 bottle. dark brown with a small tan head. fruity, estery aroma like chocolate covered pineapple with old dank musty woody notes. banana candy, old musty oak, roasted malt flavors. its a good beer minus the banana thing.

2.9 Tap. Pours a translucent brown with a ring of tan head. Aroma and taste of malts and not much else.

3.0 Cola brown pour, little head. A little too sweet and thin despite the abv for my palate. Flavor of molasses light smoke and booze. One dimensional but pretty tasty. Ok. Not my favorite I&G, though...

3.1 It’s flippin 11 (celsius) in mid-August and I’m drinking a treacle porter. Seems about right... Pours a nice reddish brown with a bit of off-white head. Lots of molasses, as advertised, with caramel, ripe banana, and a couple other things I can’t quite identify. Taste is molasses, warm booze, and banana, maybe a bit of ripe stone fruit? A bit of chocolate on the finish, which has a nice little touch of bitterness to quell the alcohol warmth. It’s more drinkable, and less heavy, than I expected, but maybe that’s the weather.

3.8 Bottle. Dark, rich amber brown with a thin head. Sweet aroma - caramel, coffee, loam, peat. Full, complex flavor, sweet up front with a bit a dry bitterness afterwards that keeps it from being cloying. Flavors of caramel, coffee, molasses, bourbon and some spice. Smooth with a dry aftertaste. Good special occasion beer.