Skarsgaard is one of many good Scandinavian brewers that has come into the American beer scene.  This one in particular is from Norway.  They’ve come by land, by sea, by Eric the Red type ships.  However, this is a welcome invasion that gratifies rather than pillaging.  The porter is somewhere between a brown and robust version of the style.  On to the porter.

The Pour: Being that this is between a brown and robust, Skarsgaard had a very nice dark brown body with a fairly small amount of head.

The Nose: Many of the typical porter tones dominated the nose of this beer.  Chocolate and coffee tones came to the forefront, with the honey notes being very restrained.  I like a porter with biscuit and nutty qualities in it, which didn’t seem to happen on the nose of this beer.

The Taste: The honey that made its way to the nose certainly made its way to the mouth.  Still, these tones weren’t overbearing but distinct.  The nutty and biscuity qualities that I was hoping for definitely came when I sipped the beer.  Once the middle of the beer hit, there was a dry roastiness that went all the way to the slightly bitter end.  I caught a distinct tobacco smokiness on the finish as well.

Overall, I thought that Skarsgaard continued to evolve more as it warmed up in the glass.  This is a solid and good porter…I give it a hearty recommendation.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Porters: