Haandbryggeriet Costa Rica Coffee Porter

Straight into a rather more refined (ie sane) effort from the Norwegian rogues at Haandbryggeriet.

Coffee porters can turn out a little bit watery in my experience but this is a good solid effort that delivers on flavour. The coffee is of course evident from the aroma with a pleasant roasty character coming through. In fact the aroma puts me in mind a bit of a discarded coffee filter, and the first taste gives a bit of that husky character too.

The mouthfeel is excellent - velvety and smooth, which brings a nice drinkability to the beer. The taste itself is not overly complex, just slightly sweet coffee and roast porter notes, but that's probably all you want from this particular beer, and it's all well executed. There's something about the Scandinavian nations (Scandinations? Scandinations.) that really seems to lend itself to great dark beer production and this is another fine example.

It's a slight shame about the flat head delivery and appearance but this is a top beer that's well worth considering if you're in the market for an espresso. 8.0