United Nations of Beer

Flying Fish Imperial Espresso porter

by Andrew Schanel
(Beer Delegate, NJ, USA)

Flying Fish Imperial Espresso porter
Flying Fish Brewing Company, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA

I know summer time is virtually behind us, but there's still a place for lazy sunny afternoons with tall vases of Berliner Weisse with some weird green shit floating in it (see my Beer Cocktails article), or a cloudy golden Hefeweizen, perhaps with a slice of lemon in some lazy patio chair somewhere...

But a four-pack of Flying Fish Imperial Espresso porter caught my eye recently one afternoon and me being a coffee lover, I had to grab it.

Flying Fish is a well respected brewery here in NJ. They've been around for twelve years and I've seen their products in every beer store I've been to, statewide.

As a matter of fact, before I really scrutinized the beer scene here in New Jersey, I thought Flying Fish was a large brewery from out of state.

Let's get to the Imperial Espresso porter, shall we? First of all, upon pouring this beer I noticed the beautiful dark brown/black color and the immediate smell of roasted coffee beans. A thin white foamy head left some sticky lace on the inside of the glass.

Upon tasting I noticed the unmistakable alcohol heat, but that cannot be avoided in this 8% ABV beer. And it's not a bad thing in some beers, especially in a malty porter such as this, in my opinion.

This brew has very low hop bitterness - it's sweet, but not overbearing. After the first couple of sips I detected the English ale yeast. The combination of this yeasty taste and the abundant maltiness lends this beer a very 'bready' taste and feel.

Strange, but I think this brew might go well with breakfast... maybe a piece of coffee cake? (Now I know you've been doing this job for too long... Ed.)

The Imperial Espresso was brewed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of brewing at Flying Fish. It's a limited edition and I'm not sure how much of this will be left in the near future, so if you see a four pack, I recommend picking it up!