

London Porter - Meantime Brewing Company Limited

Not Rated.
London PorterLondon Porter

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426 Ratings
no score

(send 'em beer!)
Ratings: 426
Reviews: 278
rAvg: 4.01
pDev: 10.72%
Wants: 33
Gots: 32 | FT: 1
Brewed by:
Meantime Brewing Company Limited visit their website
United Kingdom (England)

Style | ABV
English Porter |  6.50% ABV

Availability: Year-round

Notes & Commercial Description:
Beer added by: GCBrewingCo on 08-28-2005

No notes at this time.
View: Beers (42) | Events
Beer: Ratings & Reviews
Ratings: 426 | Reviews: 278 | Display Reviews Only:
Photo of gregalobeer
4.23/5  rDev +5.5%

Surprise, it's a porter!

First off, this beer is green. Ever so slightly and only detectable as it pours, but definitely green. The same green that you see in an old woman's opaque glass windows. (At least my old next door neighbor.) The head has outstanding firmness and retention.

Second, the aromas are beautiful: malty, yeasty, sweetness, fresh cut flowers, crisp and tempting.

Third, the taste took me for a 180º. Coffee is the dominant flavour. Actually, sitting in the glass for 10 minutes, I can no longer detect it.

Finally, as with the taste, the mouthfeel began strong and receded to your typical English beer, flat and spitty. But the aromas and the head stuck around for the finish.

Overall, excellent balance of drinkability and style.

Photo of FreshHawk
3.86/5  rDev -3.7%

A - Very dark reddish brown color with a very large thick, creamy, frothy beige head with very good retention and a thick creamy lacing left.

S - Earthy, chocolaty aroma with dark roasted malt and some roasted caramel and brown sugar. A bit of dark fruit, tobacco, licorice/anise, and coffee. Pretty earthy smell.

T - Similar to the smell. A good amount of earthy and woody taste provides a lot of the base and is prominent throughout. In the background there is a good amount of dark chocolate, a bit of coffee, a fair amount of licorice, a hint of tobacco, and some dark fruit. Not a lot of roasted barley or other roasted flavors that you would expect in a porter. On the finish there is a slightly tart and sour taste.

M - Medium to light body with slightly above average carbonation. A little smooth and creamy, but it could be a bit more, also a bit drying.

D - Pretty good drinkability. A number of balanced flavors with some "normal" porter flavors and roasted flavors along with some tart flavors. Interesting mix of flavors that make a beer that is enjoyable to sip.

Notes: Interesting beer. Apparently this is more like a traditional porter. Much more earthy flavors and tart and dark fruit as well with less of the roasted, chocolate, and coffee taste. The flavor was a little thin, but there was a diversity of flavors. Interesting beer that was pretty tasty, but nothing really special. Worth trying if you can find it for a good price.

Photo of whiteskittlz
4.1/5  rDev +2.2%

Ordered on the house at the Olde Ship in Santa Ana, CA. Came in 705ml corked and caged bottle, bartender poured about half in imperial pint glass

appearance: near black, nice creamy head

smell: nice chocolatey, coffee-y malts, not quite as strong as the taste to come

taste: here's the part where it really shined through in it's own unique way, it was an almost sweet, malty taste that almost reminded me of a dark soda, like Coca-Cola or a dry root beer or Dr. Pepper mixed with chocolate and coffee...but any one of these, some median point in between

mouthfeel: not nitrous-smooth like a stout, but instead that prickly fizziness from gold-old carbonation...probably helping the soda comparisons. a bit of a dry finish

drinkability: heavy and a touch dry, not something to drink willy-nilly. something to savor, yet easy enough for a session beer.

Photo of slyke
4.32/5  rDev +7.7%

Meantime London Porter pours a pleasant brown color with hints of red and a generous tan head that sticks pretty well and laces nicely.

The smell is a bit smoky and chocolatey, but mostly is smells like roasted grain - what a nice smell!

The taste includes the roasted/smoky flavor with a hint of chocolate and bits of coffee and maybe a little dark fruit.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied as I'd expect from the style.

Drinkability is good - this is a little stronger than many porters so I'll drink a couple of these, but I won't drink them all night.

Photo of Cyberkedi
4.15/5  rDev +3.5%

Aroma is quite strong, smoky and coffee-ish with a firm overtone of unsweetened chocolate and a hint of brown sugar. It pours a dark warm brown with a fairly thick and persistent light tan head. Flavor is smoky with good tones of fine roast coffee and unsweetened chocolate along with hints of molasses and a touch of spice. Texture is smooth, a bit thick, and somewhat fizzy.

Photo of kegger22
3.98/5  rDev -0.7%

Meantime London Porter was a very dark brown English porter with a one-inch beige head that displayed good retention.

The aroma was roasted malt, chocolate and that almost vinegary smell that I often find in English porters.

However, the taste did not have the sour note that I find so off-putting. Chocolate and roasted nuts were there, coming through stronger as the porter warmed.

The mouth feel was medium bodied after it warmed, oily and lightly carbonated.

The drinkability was good. Maybe a bit over priced, but not terribly so.

English porters are not normally my cup of beer, but Meantime makes a mean London porter. Thank you very much.

Photo of AgentZero
3.78/5  rDev -5.7%

A - Dark, pretty much black with nice ruby highlights on the edges. Tan head that dissipated with a small amount of lacing.

S - Chocolate, coffee, a little syrupy. Roasted malts come through cleanly, smells a bit more like a stout to me than a porter.

T - Sweet and roasted malts on the front, a little bitter on the end, finishes nicely.

M - A little too carbonated and a little too thin.

D - Pretty easy to drink, but think it might get filling quickly.

Photo of cpone
4.13/5  rDev +3%

11.2 oz bottle erupted when I popped the cap. Poured with a 3+ finger head into a duvel tulip. Body is a dark brown with a red tint. Head is a nice foamy tan with some lighter streaks. Some lacing. Smells of coffee, roasted wood and...what the hell, tree bark. Taste is definitely coffee, roasted malts. You know the smell of the tip of a stick after you've roasted a dozen or so marshmallows on it - toasty, sweet? That taste is in there too. Mouthfeel is good - wish there was a bit more to it though. Very drinkable, delicious beer.

Photo of bluejacket74
4.42/5  rDev +10.2%

750 ml caged and corked bottle. Served in a nonic pint glass, the beer pours dark brown with about an inch tan head. Head retention is good, lacing is decent. Aroma is very sweet and malty, it smells like chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, nuts, and brown sugar. Taste is similar to the aroma, it tastes like smoked and roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and a bit of caramel and dark fruit. Starts off sweet, then has a bitter and dry finish. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's a bit coating with good carbonation. Drinkability is pretty good, it's smooth and very easy to drink. If I had another bottle of it, I'd drink it now! I think this is a good overall brew, I'll definitely be buying this again.

Photo of Mistofminn
3.7/5  rDev -7.7%

Another beer sampled at Roman Market's beer tasting.

The pour is brown, with about a two finger khaki head. Beer is hazy brown, when held into the light I realize it is far from opaque. Leaves nice lacing.

The nose is malty, with very light chocolate and coffee notes. A sweetness comes in near the finish. It's pretty simple.

The taste is just like the nose, but the carbonation is so high it's hard to pick out any distinct flavors. Sweet and bitter malts, with light chocolate notes are about all I can pick up.

Mouthfeel is light to medium, with a very high carbonation. It completely ruins the beer for me, because it's hard to taste anything beyond the frenzy in my mouth. Once the carbonation settles, it's a little better, but it never completely goes away. Drinkability takes a hit because of this.

Overall, not bad. I would really like to try the coffee porter, as I'm a huge sucker for coffee beers.

Photo of Bisho
4.25/5  rDev +6%

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a 250ml tulip glass

Pours with a big tan head which settles quickly into the dark brown beer. If you hold it up to the light you can see through the beer too.

Sweet smell of malt, chocolate & coffee with a little nuttiness and dark fruits. Almost stouty (if there was ever such a word!)

Very complex flavour with all of the nose characters in the taste. Chocolate and malt to start followed by the coffee and nuts. A bit of bready yeast and slight bitterness to finish.

Lots of carbonation with a medium body. Semi-sweet yet dry. Awesome mouthfeel which never ever gets too heavy or sweet. The balance is impeccable!

Love this Porter in winter or summer, I for one will be drinking plenty of it!

This beer along with the Meantime IPA are two of the best British ales to ever hit my tastebuds! KUDOS to them!

Photo of jlindros
3.95/5  rDev -1.5%

Had their coffee porter and was impressed. Here is the London Porter.

A: Huge frothin head of 3 fingers in my tulip glass. It fades pretty quickly to 2 fingers and lots of big fluffy bubbles, but then slows down. It's a ruby brown with slight copper hue with very faintest light sneaking through.

N: Lots of sweet brown sugar to start. Then adds some roasted malts and the slightest touch of smoked. Some light dark fruits, and sweet malts. A very slight creamy stout aroma.

T: Starts somewhat sweet, with more brown sugar. Then gets a nice wave of smoked malts, very interesting. Then some spicy hops come through in the center, but not very heavy. Some nice roasted malts and slight creamy stout. Pretty light. The sweetness and spicy hops seem to contrast a bit and could have been blended together better. A slight sweet thick syrupy malt flavor with hints of alcohol, a step up for a British beer.

M: Pretty light comparative to the style, decent carbonation.

F: Finishes pretty sweet still, with lingering brown sugar and smoked malts. Some light bitterness comes through well, but still battles that sweet malty flavor. A lingering earthy bitter flavor adds a nice finish but an almost metallic flavor takes that addition away. The smoked malt addition is very nice.

Photo of rtepiak
4.07/5  rDev +1.5%

pour of coca cola... ruby in the light and a somewhat large head of very light brown. nose light of chocolate and coffee... equally matched with maltose and a nice apple fruit. a bit bready. palate is a bit toasty and a much harsher carbonation than expected. delutes the palate. marginalizes all the wonderful stuff that in the nose. probably wonderful after two years of storage.

Photo of DerBayer
3.44/5  rDev -14.2%


Smell is of toasted malt but very faint



Photo of Brad007
4.32/5  rDev +7.7%

Pours a reddish-brown color with a one-finger head into my glass. Very nice so far.

Aroma is sweet with a good hint of coffee, cream and mild molasses.

Taste is sweet, creamy and has a bit of a dark fruit to it as well. Just a light hint of coffee as well. Not too dark or bitter. Well-rounded. The flavors all mingle in the mouth to create an interesting palette.

Mouthfeel is just a tad thin but the mixture of flavors makes up for it. Cream lingers in the mouth along with coffee. Well-rounded. Carbonation seems just right.

A very, very nice example of the style. It attempts to provide the drinker with a feel for the older, original British porters using this beer. It's not hard to see why this style can be well-rounded if done right. Excellent.

Photo of RedBrewer83
4.3/5  rDev +7.2%

Sharing with my good buddy Kip, who is a massive Widmer Hefeweizen fan, so we are challenging his tastedbuds in a large way tonight....should be fun! Poured into a tulip....

A: Kip thinks it looks like Caribbean Coffee....I would say that it is a very dark brown hue, creamy tan head that rises to almost two fingers, leaves nice sticky lacing as it falls slowly....

S: Kip is detecting nuttiness along with a nice cocoa aroma...I smell cocoa as well, caramel malt, and some nice dark fruits, raisin, hints of molasses and brown sugar...

T: Wow, that is fantastic....Kip says "its good!" I agree, this is a delicious porter, very robust, nice roasted malt profile, very well balanced between the chocolate/cocoa and sweet malts, nice bread yeast in the finish as well, overall a very complex flavor that is very pleasing.

M: Kip says the carbonation is more than expected, yet subtle. Mouth feel is medium, with a little excess carbonation, but not overpowering. The flavor still comes through and the bubbles are fine enough that they don't dominate your palate.

D: Kip says, "thats pretty smooth, I can keep drinking it." Agreed, goes down quite smoothly as I would expect from 6.5% and is a very enjoyable porter. Excellent example of the style!

Photo of Rayek
4.19/5  rDev +4.5%

Poured into a Nonic.

A: Deep garnet, with nice clarity and mild carbonation. A foamy and dense cream cap has very nice retention, but sadly leaves little lace.

S: Smells heavily of baking chocolate, molasses, tobacco and a hint of oak.

T: Very interesting. The aromas flow fairly well into the beer's flavor. The chocolate and molasses flavors come through first. Bitterness is very mild and adds charred wood and black tea flavors. Things are slightly sour and even a touch salty in the finish, which was a big shift from other porters I've had.

M: The medium body is dry and slightly sticky. Carbonation is spot on.

D: I was pleasantly surprised by this beer. It has a unique mix of flavors that kept me coming back to my glass. The mid-range ABV makes for easy drinking. A very nice pickup.

Photo of BEERchitect
4.03/5  rDev +0.5%

A solid and true Porter that shows a lot of balance and flavor without becomming over bearing.

The beer pours a dark bown (nearly black) color with lightly tanned head that has a lot of staying power. Timid on lacing, but high on retention.

Medium strength aromas are cocoa and roasted grain dominant with a follow up of grassy hops, malted milk, coffee, and timid nutty notes.

Flavors of cocoa, coffee and sweetened malts set the stage and become the dominant force of the beer. Malty goodness of toffee and caramel only provide support for the roasty and toasted notes. Herbal hop flavor begins to decorate the edges but never bring attention to themselves. Bitterness weaves in and out of the acrid dry roast for a balanced yet complex counterpart to the malt sweetness.

Quite full and rounded textures never push into heavy or chewy. Quite malty textured with a light dryness (from dark grains and hops) toward the end but the beer remains malt balanced.

Utimately a very good beer that is light on slight on complexity and velvety texture but is also flawless in it's design and exectution. Probably a slight dip in quality compated to Fuller's London Porter.

Photo of Lemon
4.06/5  rDev +1.2%

A- Starts off with a thick 2 finger head and ended up with a bit less than a finger. Color is a dark amber-red when held up to light with a light tan head.

S- A little smokiness with some spice and sweetness.

T- Definitely picking up the smokiness from the scent. Makes for a nice aftertaste. Enjoyable sweetness with fruit undertones. I'm also getting a little chocolate in the background. Flavors blend together nicely, though a little weaker than expected.

M- A bit more carbonation than other porters I've had. Makes for an interesting texture and light feel.

D- Definitely enjoyable. Comes together as a light, smooth beer with enough flavor. It does feel a bit weak on flavor after the first few sips, but still a good drink.

Photo of livingregret
1.42/5  rDev -64.6%

11.2 fl oz bottle.





Photo of Traquairlover
4.23/5  rDev +5.5%

750ml bottle poured into pint glasses.

A = Deep red oak with very good clarity when held up to the light, large billowy light tan head forms and slowly settles back to foamy cover on surface with medium lacing left behind in its wake.

S = Creamy chocolate notes compete with very light smokey tree bark hints.

T = Chocolate, the same light smokiness I detected in the smell is also there in the taste. A constant level of medium bitterness keeps this from being too sweet and helps a medium sweet flavor continue long into the finish without becoming too much of a good thing. A really fine example of a London Porter.

M = Medium body, good mouthcoating, while the carbonation stings a little at first, it does not take long for it to show simple soft carbonation and a creamy feel.

D = This is a very flavorful beer for how drinkable it is. It just flows down and I want to keep drinking. Doesn't get cloying too fast as sometimes happens to me with porters.

Photo of Kristing
3.63/5  rDev -9.5%

This porter is almost entirely black with a pinch of red and a thin beige head.

The aroma is quite spicy with tones of smokiness. There are also tones of citrus and dark bread.

The brew tastes of dark bread and is quite smoky, along with a light aftertaste of dried fruit. The bitterness sets itself on the tongue, while you can feel the smokiness on the palate.

This beer is very drinkable and uncomplex for a porter. Unfortunately, this means it does not have the depth of other london porters, such as that of Fuller's.

Photo of DoubleJ
3.73/5  rDev -7%

Meantime sure uses some of the coolest shaped little bottles around. 330 ml, on to the beer:

It sure doesn't look like the porters I drink here in California. More of an cherry amber color on its way to brown. The head is rocky and thick on top, shows very good retention. little lacing. Sweet....it smells sweet. There is some butterscotch, toffee, vanilla, and a kick of cough syrup flavored alcohol. Not a bad smell, but could be melded a bit better.

Old World porter all the way. Light doses of ground coffee brush across as a cherry/diacetyl combo coat the palate. This is about what I could expect in the style. Watered down toffee and caramel hit. Soft in the mouth, limited carbonation, a smidge "thin". Not hard to drink, though not a beer I'd have many one at a given time.

I've now had the London Porter and the Coffee Porter. Both leave good footprints in my memory, though the Coffee Porter's is a larger imprint (not that this is bad). But if you're looking for a taste of the past, this is for you.

Photo of PartyBear
4/5  rDev -0.2%

Appearance: Dark chestnut brown in colour, with reddish tints. Thick creamy head, tan in colour. Carbonation is quite lively for a porter, with fine bubbles.

Aroma: Dense roasted malts, milk chocolate, and caramel. There are dark fruits, definite grape, which gives it a wine-like aroma.

Taste: A rich maltiness up front providing a subtle sweetness of caramel, and milk chocolate, followed by bitter roasted coffee flavours. There are noticeable fruity undertones, of grapes, and possibly a hint of cherry. The finish is bitter with a slight hoppiness but short lived.

Mouthfeel: Quite light considering it's a porter, creamy, and slightly fizzy. The lightness gives it a water feel at times, which seems to mute the flavours to a degree.

Drinkability: An incredibly aromatic porter, with a bittersweet taste. It is clear to see why Meantime are become such a respected brewery. Very drinkable given the alcohol content, and even though it is sold in a large 750ml bottle it sometimes doesn't feel big enough.

Photo of spointon
3.96/5  rDev -1.2%

I poured this one from an 11.2oz unique brown bottle into a shaker pint glass.

A= Opened the bottle at fridge temp and had an immediate foam-over of about an ounce! This ale poured a clear cola-brown color with a big fluffy 2.5" tan head. The head was creamy and slowly settled to a solid and sticky cap. lots of sticky foam and sheet lace clung to my glass.

S= I had to really agitate this beer to bring the aromas out, but when I did I found sweet malt, chocolate, toffee, raisins, and plums.

T= Very similar to the smell. Lots of rich malts up front lending flavors like treacle, toffee, bread pudding, and chocolate. The middle showed a slight astringency (I assume from the roasted malt) and a light earthy hop note. Finished drier than the start with a bit of smoke lingering in the aftertaste.

MF= Lighter side of medium bodied with a fairly crisp carbonation level.

D= A pretty good English porter and easy to drink for sure, but not my favorire example of the style. The mouthfeel is a bit off and the aroma was lacking (but I also don't doubt my bottle had some age on it).

London Porter from Meantime Brewing Company Limited
90 out of 100 based on 426 ratings.