Beer Review: Cape May Brewery’s King Porter Stomp

A break from the Belgians/Belgian Styles on this latest review here at the Tap Takeover…

Name: King Stomp Porter
Brewing Company: Cape May Brewing Company
Location: Cape May, NJ
Style: Porter – Baltic
ABV: 7.4%

From Cape May Brewing’s Web page for the beer:

The smooth notes of natural chocolate in King Porter Stomp are in perfect syncopation with the five different malts that provide the bass line of this robust beast. Medium-bodied with a chocolate aroma, King Porter Stomp is smooth as jazz.

I realize it has been less than a year since I last reviewed/highlighted a beer from Cape May Brewery here, but the calendar flipped over and this beer is considered a winter seasonal by the brewery. King Porter Stomp is one of the most important Jazz standards (per that Wikipedia link) and Cape May is home to the Exit Zero Jazz Festival. Jazz Festival, plus a jazz song with “Porter” in the title and you have this beer, which is the official beer of the Exit Zero Jazz Festival with Cape May Brewery as an official sponsor.

Over the past year, Cape May Brewery’s beers have been popping up with consistency in my area which is a very welcome addition to the beer shelves. When I learned about this beer over a year or two ago, I knew I wanted to have it since I enjoy porters so much.  This beer isn’t just a standard porter, it is one of the more unique styles of beer, the Baltic Porter. The Baltic Porter usually has a higher alcohol content than a standard porter and often have an acidic, bittersweet finish that can have hints of licorice.

The beer pours a rich black that gives off a bittersweet aroma. The chocolate is very upfront in this beer, a sweetness that is really nice. The finish, at least cold out of the can, is a little more bitter than I typically like but it balances out the early sweetness present in the beer.

This is a beer I should let warm up a little bit, is what I think after the first couple of sips. Once it settles from the cold from the fridge, the bittersweet finish softens a bit. There was always a hint of licorice, which I typically don’t like, but the sweetness from the start grows as it warms and makes the licorice and bitterness at the end very pleasing. Although the beer is 7.4% ABV, I can see myself having two cans of this over the course of a cold evening. I’d take that second can out of the fridge and let it warm just a bit before cracking open the can.

King Porter Stomp is a fantastic winter seasonal beer. A delicious desert beer, a beer to enjoy over a long night of gaming or watching an epic movie. A beer that shows helps to show the skill that the brewers at Cape May Brewery have over their range of styles.

Recommended, link to Untappd 4-bottle cap rating.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

To The Port (Level 17)