Arnold's 1861 Porter

About a week or two ago I had a post mentioning that Arnold's was celebrating their 150th Anniversary this year and to celebrate, they decided to throw a birthday party last night. Well, Christian Moerlein also wanted to share in their celebration of 150 years in Cincinnati, so they decided to brew a beer in honor of this accomplishment and I was there to check it out.

Before I share my thoughts on the beer, there are some things to note. This beer was the first beer that Christian Moerlein brewed in  Over the Rhine! This is fantastic news because it brings them one step closer to getting their brand new brewery fully operational (it's still going to be a little while, but they're working on it). Also, because this beer was brewed in the new brewery that isn't full of fermenters and mash tuns, there was only so much of this beer to go around at the party. The event started at 6:00pm and the beer was gone by 7:00pm. I believe that this says something about Cincinnati's rising beer scene, but more on that on a different day.

On to my thoughts:

This beer pours a dark brown, with a thin, tan head. The smell is of a coffee and chocolate beans and was very nice. The taste was much the same, roasty, coffee, and chocolate. The more I drank, the more the chocolate starts to come to the front. The beer had light carbonation, but it was a nice drink. The taste was a little softer than I was expecting it to be, but it was definitely enjoyable.

If you had a chance to try this beer on New Year's Eve or on New Year's, what did you think? Do you agree with my assessment?