Wold Top: Marmalade Porter (England: Porter: 5% ABV)
Visual: Opaque black. Some small bubbled carbonation. Cinder toffee hued inch of a head that leaves suds.
Nose: Cocoa dust. Marmalade. Jif lemon. Crushed nuts.
Body: Quite thick. Chunky marmalade. Sour dough. Lime jelly. Nettles. Lightly prickling. Toffee. Light charring.
Finish: Crushed bourbon biscuits. Lemon on pancakes. Marmalade on white bread. Lightly earthy bitterness and hop character. Vanilla toffee. Cocoa dust. Peppery.
Conclusion: This really does have a tangy citrus character, and all of it done by the hops from the look of it rather than by messing around with adding extra ingredients to the porter. I am impressed with it so far.
There is a mix of marmalade, lime and lemon all showing themselves over the dark and lightly charred body. Lots of cocoa dust shows itself top and tail, but mid body there is a just a dark charred character that gives weight behind the tarter citrus notes.
It makes for a very solid, weighty beer, but with a remarkably tangy character to it. It reminds me a bit of the brighter hop styled black IPAs that I have enjoyed over the years, though this leans more into the thick, porter side of things.
Around that base there is a grounding earthy hop character – this beer is never super sweet, with only some toffee notes doing the work on that side, and the chocolate character coming across more as bitter cocoa dust than anything sweet – but the bright tangy citrus definitely benefits from a moderate earthy bitterness to contrast and ground.
Overall a solid, quite thick porter with lovely fresh citrus for something unusual without abandoning the base beer. A very nice slow sipper.
Background: Gosh darn been just over a decade since I did notes on a Wold Top beer, and same as last time I was back with the family up north and they had got some beers in for me to enjoy while there, of which this was one. Many thanks. Last beer was pretty good as well, the Wold Top Gold. Was quite interested in this one, called a Marmalade Porter as it is, but with no added ingredients, so I presume everything done with the hops. I approve. I like extra ingredients as a treat, but I respect a brewery that tries to fun things with just the standard four as it shows a real level of skill and knowledge.
