Bierly Brewing Baker Street Porter

Baker Street Porter Bottle Release

Dedicated Gluten Free Porter Brewed By Bierly Brewing

The first time I ever tasted the Baker Street Porter was moments after entering the homebrew club anniversary party at Ground Breaker in January. The first person I saw when I walked through the door was JP Bierly, founder and brewer of Bierly Brewing.

He handed me a tasting glass of the Baker Street, and that’s how I began my evening…with a dark porter. Haha! A good start to palate fatigue. The Baker Street Porter is new to bottles, and has been a work in progress over at Bierly Brewing for a while now. The recipe was written in collaboration with GlutenFreeHomeBrewing.com.

This porter is brewed on a base of sorghum, malted millet, and malted rice. It includes both Northern Brewer hops and Fuggle hops (which I just brewed with for the Best Gluten Free Beers home brew stout!) and has a 5.5% ABV. The ingredient list on the bottle also reveals cocao nibs in the Baker Street Porter.

The Taste Test

Baker Street Porter

This beer pours with a beautifully toasty chocolate brown color. It’s head is boisterous and wonderful. Very audible carbonation level too. When held up to the light, the Baker Street Porter does let a little reddish-brown light through around the edges of the beer (which was hard to capture on film) but not so much through the center. It’s pretty obscure.

The aroma is packed with chocolate and coffee. It smells like a particular type of espresso ice cream I used to love. Its aroma is both sharp and bright at the same time. I must admit, I am very excited to taste this beer again. It admittedly didn’t really get my full attention the first time. 

By the way, by now the head has bubbled down to a thick lasting layer of fine bubbles. They don’t seem to be going anywhere too quickly. I love it. The Baker Street Porter certainly is a very attractive beer. So let’s get on to the tasting, shall we?

When I tasted this the first time, my first reaction was “coffee”! Not espresso like I detected in the aroma, but a very gentle coffee taste. But there’s no coffee in this beer, so those flavors are all coming from the malt roasts.

My second reaction was “this tastes like a hot chocolate beer”. (In a really good way.) This beer is extremely chocolatey, but not as bitter as it smells. It clocks in at 32 IBU, which is higher than I would have guessed. There is no lingering bitterness, but rather a throat coated in chocolate.

The Baker Street Porter is an excellent porter for those who enjoy light notes of coffee but would prefer to avoid the bitterness. The Baker Street Porter is very easy drinking and smooth in my opinion, despite possessing a fairly full body. Those who prefer a little kick to the palate would likely prefer a stout though, as the mouthfeel of this porter presents very creamy and soft.

As one of those stout-lovers, I must admit the smoothness of the Baker Street Porter makes it an amazing winter go-to, for any time of day really. ? With lunch, before dinner, for dessert, or hell…Sunday brunch! It’s delicious.

P.S. Like what I do for the gluten free beer community? Consider buying me a beer for my efforts! ;)