Brewery: Cromarty Brewing
Style: Porter
ABV: 5.8%
Cromarty Brewing Co has made a name for itself since getting the ball rolling in 2011, repeatedly wowing beer-drinkers with products such as Rogue Wave pale ale and Red Rocker.
It looks set to continue that trend with Ghost Town, an earthy and smooth porter.
Black as night with an off-white head, Ghost Town greets the drinker with a roast, liquorice aroma, with a hint of dark chocolate and spices. The taste is not too far removed from the aroma, with a full-bodied roasty, malty flavour.
Somewhat unusually for a porter, the flavour is quite sharp, with a coffee-tinged bitterness beneath the fulsome malt that lasts and lasts. Lighter than perhaps anticipated, Ghost Town gets better with each mouthful.
Ghost Town is unexpectedly hoppy, which rounds off its complexity. Big on flavour and lingering aftertaste, it’s not the most robust porter out there, but gives a good account of itself next to the likes of Fuller’s London Porter or Harviestoun’s Old Engine Oil.
Goes together nicely with steak as well as chocolate pudding and caramel-based desserts.
Ghost Town is ideal for those wintry nights in warding off the cold. Roaring fire optional.
