Malt Shovel Brewery James Squire Porter

I picked up a single bottle of this when I got the IPA, wanting to give it an honest chance. The first time I had a JS Porter, I was just in to Sydney and jet-lagged all to hell after a sendoff brew-fest in the states. I found it in a bottlo in Haymarket, and went back to my hotel room to drink it. It tasted "off" then, butI  attributed it to my state, not the beer's. I was going to try it right this time...

I chilled the bottle to 5C, had a clean, cool glass to pour it in, and a relaxing couch to sit on while drinking it. After opening, it pushed foam up the neck to just below the bottle's lip. It had a malty aroma, and even more so after pouring. The head was a consistent 2 cm with a brown tinge to it, and it slowly dissipated. The colour was black like I would expect a stout to be. I could not see light through this except at the extreme side of the glass where it had a dark brownish-red hue. I tasted it and a heavy malt and hop flavour filled my mouth. Then I swallowed. What it wasn't was creamy light inviting my continued enjoyment. Instead, there was something a bit off. I took a few more sips, and I liked it for the most part, but something I can't quite put my finger on was troubling me about its aftertaste. I thought it maybe was too cold, and so let it sit for a bit before trying another sip. I have to say its very consistent. I finished it eventually. Overall I say it had all the right features, but didn't quite pull it off in my book. I really wanted to like it.  I would drink another, but I'm not going to go out of my way. Maybe if I see it on tap...

A distinct earthy aroma with hints of malt (chocolate, or toffee) with some hops/bitterness detectable. Quite an appealing aroma.

This porter (as expected) is very dark, in fact darker then Tooheys Old I would think, mind you I haven't done a side-by-side comparison, and has a nice thick creamy head which bubbles away perfectly and has good longevity. This is a very dark beer, so dark you can't see any of the bubbles in the beer. If you have drunk Stout or similar style beers the look would be familar and inviting.

The body of the beer is quite thin and deceiving given its dark thick looks. It is quite smooth and well balanced. There are hints of roasted barley (smokey flavour) along with chocolate/toffee which is balanced out with a little bitterness. There is very little bitter about this beer, the hops just balance out the flavour to provide a complex yet smooth taste.

You could easily enjoy this beer just as much standing around a BBQ in summer as you could rugged up in front of a fire in the middle of winter, which is a tip of the hat to James Squire/Malt Shovel Brewery.

I've scored a lower experience rating, only due to the fact I had trouble getting a case of this recently (no single bottles/six packs either) and in the past I've had to request/order it in at my bottle shop.

Pretty good. Another beer with a bit of a cult following in certain circles (in a general James Squire sense anyway). A quite nice, appealing, earthy yet not overpowering aroma to start, followed by a fairly strong, distinct malty flavour that kinda surprises and is quite nice. The label suggests hints of bitter malt chocolate and I think its right. Has the classic MS"labelled lid"

I always associate this with Maritime Circuses Board (the colloquial term for the old NSW Maritime Services Board, which became the Waterways Authority) as MSB was their abbreviation. A bit of a bitter “undercurrent” which actually seems to enhance the experience. Whilst not immediately recognizable as a good, honest strong Aussie beer it comes through with a result very close to that respectful title. The labelling is nice, though a point off for the smaller (than 375mL) volume stubby it is marketed in. I will drink more of this in future.