I was a bit tired when I came to BrewDog Alice Porter. It had been a long week and I probably didn't really need another beer. But if it's just going to be the one, why not a 6.2% ABV Baltic Porter from the naughty Scottish boys at the back of the class? As ever, the label copy makes big and flouncy promises -- I took its talk of a "radically reinvisaged" [sic] porter at face value and reckoned there wouldn't be a whole lot of work stringing a few words together about it. And then I opened it.It's a Baltic Porter all right, but it could be any Baltic Porter: you get that stern liquorice and treacle bitter sweetness and pleasant boozy warmth. All very lovely as it goes, but where's the radical reimagining? Concentrating hard, I managed to pick up a few of Alice's distinguishing features. There's a light and flowery sweet flavour at the very end: a touch of lavender or rose water, but I had to work to find it.
Despite the bluster, I think this can be filed at the good, solid, balanced, drinkable end of the BrewDog portfolio. Don't expect a full-palate workout.
