Flat Earth Brewing - Cygnus X-1 Porter

Flat Earth Brewing Co. is one of the newer small craft breweries to come on the scene in the Twin Cities over the last 5 years.  Founded in 2007, the head brewer Jeff Williamson started this brewery with the goal to create beers that aren't normally found in the upper Midwest, with a philosophy to "brew on the edge" and create new interpretations of traditional brewing assumptions.  They also create unique, conspiracy-filled names for each of their brews.....the beer I'm drinking tonight is called Cygnus X-1 Porter.  Black hole, anyone?

Statistics:

Brewed with English Pale, Brown, Amber, Chocolate and Rye malts.  Fuggle hops, Irish Ale yeast and St. Paul water

OG - 1.065

IBU - 45

Alcohol (ABV) - 6.5%

This brew comes in a 1 Pint bottle with a little galaxy swirling around a black hole on the label, very cool design.  It pours a dark hue - almost black, but when held up against the light it seems more like mahogany.  It leaves a full finger of light-colored head, which hangs around for quite a while.  The smell is predominantly roasted malt with some dark chocolate, a tad bit smokey.  I can tell from the smell there will be some nice bitterness to this brew.

First sip brings those roasty malts home, along with a slight bitterness and some smoke.  Another sip and I definitely catch some dark chocolate in the malts, and a dry finish.  There's a dark fruit in there, plum or raisin....subtle but I like it.  It seems like part of the bitterness lingers a little too long. 

The medium body and fairly heavy carbonation help carry the flavors through - almost velvet-like mouthfeel. 

Overall Rating:  Good (3.8 out of 6.0)  This is a nicely balanced porter with a great roasty flavor profile.  I don't think I could drink more than one of these in a sitting, partially because of that strange lingering bitterness at the end.  That said, this local brew is well-done overall and something I could buy again.