Põhjala Öö Imperial Baltic Porter

Review Date 4/6/2021 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Baltic Porter   Brewery: Põhjala   Country: Estonia   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 10.5%

Ooooohhhhh. That’s what I said after taking my first sip of Põhjala Öö. It was back on June 24^th of 2020, that horrible year, although a bottle of Põhjala Öö (my first beer from Estonia’s Põhjala  brewery) made that night, at least, a bit more bearable. For some reason, I didn’t review the beer at the time (I’m always behind, that’s the reason). Luckily, time has no meaning when you are a beer reviewer, as long as you take your tasing notes. And I did.

Just the other night, I cracked open a bottle of Põhjala Öö XO Cognac Barrel Aged Imperial Baltic Porter, and I went looking for my review of the base beer, only to fins that I had never put pen to paper, or more accurately, keys to board. So here we are, putting the horse before the cart so I can next regale you with tales of the XO, without feeling guilty about it.

Põhjala says on their website:

An Imperial Baltic Porter as dark as the Estonian winter nights. Strong enough to keep you warm through the cold evenings.

Ingredients, also from the website:

Malts: Pilsner Zero, Munich, Carafa II Special, Special B, Chocolate malt, Crystal 300, Demerara sugar

Hops: Magnum, Northern brewer

Põhjala Öö Imperial Baltic Porter has an alcohol content of 10.5% by volume with 60 IBUs. I paid $7.48 for my bottle from Craftshack, but I have no in-store pricing for this beer. It was well worth what I paid, I can tell you.  Öö in Estonian means night.

Põhjala Öö Imperial Baltic Porter pours to a jet-black color with a thick creamy tan head and a rich roasty nose with just a hint of smoke. Taking a sip, the beer is wonderfully rich and full in mouthfeel, dark roasty with coffee and bitter chocolate, marshmallow, and green olives and licorice and espresso, plum fruit, cranberry, subtle smoke, and burnt wood. I get charcoal, too, and a big bitter roasty finish that is warming with alcohol.

This beer is just so incredibly complex that you get something new in every sip. It was one of the best beers that I drank in 2020, and that’s a good thing. 2020 needed all the great beer it could get.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??