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And the Valley Drinks: Gnarly Barley's Korova Milk Porter

Whether you’re celebrating Ed Orgeron or lamenting Kevin Steele, here’s another Louisiana brewery with something worth trying.

By Billy Gomila

In this space we've extolled a couple of Louisiana breweries in this space, be it NOLA, Parish or of course, Abita. They're not the only breweries that have popped up around Louisiana, but they are the ones I've been the most familiar with. One that I've heard a lot about through social media and such is Gnarly Barley, out of Hammond. Until recently, I've never had an occasion to try anything from them, as their stuff is only available on tap and hasn't quite received widespread distribution yet. But as more and more outlets for craft beer served on draught show up around Baton Rouge, I was able to give their Korova Milk Porter a try.

This Baltic Oatmeal Milk Porter will change the way you think about porters. From its sweet coffee and chocolate flavor, to its silky smooth finish, this is one unique brew. So sit back and enjoy her sultry sweet side.

So what exactly is a Baltic Porter? I was curious myself based on that description, but per Beer Tutor.com:

This beer originates from countries in the Baltic Sea area and is essentially a stronger version of an English Porter or a weaker Russian Imperial Stout. Baltic Porters are usually dark brown in color and may or may not be opaque. This complex style tends to have a rich, malty sweetness with dark fruit and alcohol flavors. Most will have a roasted coffee (but not burnt) character. Malts may have caramel, toffee, molasses, nuts, and/or licorice notes. Hop bitterness is medium to low and is included for balance. Hop flavor may exist, but typically hops are not tasted. ABV is usually in the 6-9.5% range and IBUs are 20-40.

This one's about 6.4 percent alcohol by volume. I don't believe they have anything canned or bottled yet, so it's only on tap.

Review

Like you'd expect from a porter, this is a rich, dark beer with a very malty, heavy bouquet. On the open you taste coffee, with a slightly amount of bitterness. Almost kind of like café au lait. But the bitterness slides over to the typical malty sweetness of a porter. It bounces back to that coffee-milk flavor quickly without being too sweet, and finishes with just a hint of some hop spice. All-in-all a very solid offering. Especially at this time of the year. 3.5 out of five stars.