Brewer: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Location: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Type: Baltic Porter
ABV: 8.5%

Let’s stick in the Central Zone a bit longer, shall we? And let’s have a call-back to the Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager collaboration between Louisiana and Wisconsin breweries by trailing upward from Louisiana’s Abita to Wisconsin’s Leinenkugel Brewing Company.

CRAZY DARKTOBER PRE-PLANNING IS CRAZY.

So Leinenkugel. I’ve actually had a bit of experience with this brewer thanks to an introduction to their Summer Shandy by my cousin with the mad culinary skills. The idea of beer brewed with lemonade wouldn’t have been a natural selection for me, but I trust her flavor choices enough that I was willing to venture outside my comfort zone. It’s a delightfully light and refreshing beer, surprisingly non-cloying, and perfect for an outdoor barbecue on a bright, cloudless summer day.

[Loba Tangent: I’m getting the sneaking suspicion from these Darktober reviews that I’m more of a fruit-flavored beer fan than I thought. This slightly disturbs me.]

This level of satisfaction was all I needed to give further consideration to other Leinenkugel offerings. Finding a Baltic porter from this brewer was a pleasant surprise…probably because I’ve only seen their lighter offerings. Their Summer Shandy, Honey Weiss, and Berry Weiss beers are always in ample supply, but I’d never seen one of their darker offerings until this year. That’s when I met Big Eddy.

Actually, “Big Eddy” is the name of their special series of beers brewed with water from nearby Big Eddy Spring, once dubbed “the purest water in the world” (although they don’t say who dubbed it that). The series comprises mostly dark offerings that all sound like exactly my kind of collection.

Baltic porters, like Imperial stouts, are meant to be bigger, bolder flavors than their everyday counterparts. Big Eddy’s take is, indeed, a Superman to the average Clark Kent porters (damn, I’m just hitting all the dorky planning jokes!). The nose is large and intensely fragrant, even if the head barely made an effort to appear for the pouring of this thick, dark brew. What surprised me about this one, however, is the truth behind the bottle’s description:

A rich, malty brew with toffee, port, and chocolate notes and a dark fruit finish.

Most of the time, I kind of feel like my taste buds are broken, because I just don’t seem to taste whatever the brewers (or copy writers) are tasting. This time? Not so sure on the toffee, but if I had to ping this porter as borrowing its intense flavors from some other alcoholic offering? It would absolutely be port. I was astonished, in fact, by how heavily inspired by traditional port flavors this beer is. There are also strong notes of dried figs and a slightly harsh, pungent undercurrent that I couldn’t quite identify as any particular flavor…just the subtlest suggestion of a piquant darkness flowing beneath it all.

The flavors need a bit of settling into before you feel truly comfortable with Big Eddy, but they do become agreeable after a time. Warmth emboldens the flavors, so letting this one set for a while isn’t necessarily a bad idea. However, the strange astringent edge of this porter sharpens as well.

I’m not sure if I would seek out this particular Big Eddy brew again, but I also wouldn’t pass it over if I ever found it on tap. I bet it’s a beast when it’s fresh. I’m also definitely interested enough that I will be keeping my eyes open for more Big Eddy offerings, or even one of Leinenkugel’s other dark beers.