Uinta Brewing - Sea Legs Baltic Porter

Well, it's finally here! The first in my Beer of the Month series my wife hooking up for me. Easily one of the coolest things she's decided to do for me and also one of the most delicious. It's win-win in my book.

So for January, we're drinking Sea Legs by Uinta Brewing, part of their Crooked Line series. This is an 8% Baltic Porter that is aged in Oak Barrels. To be honest, any beer aged in Oak Barrels immediately peaks my interest. I really like what Oak does to beers, especially porters and stouts. 

Corked, this beer proved to be a pain in the ass to open. Once opened though, the immediate aroma of Oak hit my nose. I was pretty happy to say the least. There was also a bit of a tobacco smell as well, very subtle, but anyone who has smoked good tobacco wouldn't miss it. Maybe a bit of a fine leather as well. In other words, this beer smelled incredible before I even let it hit a glass.

On the pour, this beer is incredibly dark. Pitch black with no light shining through. There was about a 3-4 finger head, mocha to bordering on straight brown in color. Very billowy, almost like clouds in the sky. It sticks around for quite some time. It's very inviting too. As the head dissipates we're left with a very nice lacing. Overall, this beer looks incredible.

The aroma in the glass differs a bit from when I first popped the cork. Not picking up much in the way of oak, tobacco, or leather. Instead, I'm getting massive amounts of chocolate. Dark chocolate to be exact. Not much vanilla actually. Usually that shows up in the taste though. I'm smelling some roasted oats. More chocolate. Maybe some espresso shining through as well. It smells incredible. 

I finally get to give this beer a taste. It's awesome. Big chocolate. Big chocolate covered coffee beans. There's no coffee really in the taste, but that bitterness is there. Sort of like drinking a good black coffee. It's dark and sort of hits you like you all know you like it. It's medium bodied. Leaves a nice coating over the tongue and cheeks. Back of the mouth is where I think this beer shines. You get a ton of espresso and black coffee. Bittersweet chocolate. And it lingers a lot. I feel like I just ate some chocolate covered espresso beans. Very good tastes. There's not a ton of carbonation but by no means is this flat. I'd say it's bordering on medium carbonation. You don't taste any alcohol. 8% that's not too surprising though. I usually don't notice the alcohol on the tongue unless it's a bit higher, 10% or so.

Overall, Sea Legs by Uinta Brewing is incredible. It's one of the better "Baltic Porters" I've had, maybe the best. This beer gets a easy 9 out of 10 for me, making this beer a solid A. I highly recommend trying this beer out. Not only this beer though, Uinta makes some amazing beers year round. Some which I'm sure I'll get to reviewing at some point in the future. In the last year, I'd say Uinta has become one of my favorite and go to breweries. I'm hoping one day to visit them in Salt Lake City, surprisingly enough. 

Rating - A