Beer Ocean Reach Porter

You don't see a lot of porters in Australia, or indeed anywhere, these days. Most appear as short run winter seasonals, but Ocean Reach have one in the year round lineup. And it's an approach that clearly works, allowing them to hone the beer to the point it picked up gold at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards.

There's plenty to get stuck into from the off: nutty, burnt caramel, a fruitiness that could be described as figgy or chocolate laced with berries – a slice of Black Forest gateaux if you like. Coffee characters make a play late on, contributing to a bitterness akin to that derived from fruity coffee beans as much as hop acids.

James Smith