Aldaris Porteris

Aldaris is from Riga, Latvia. This is a 6.8% ABV porter, that the bottle describes as a "lager ale." Now, I am a beer drinker, not a beer brewer, but from what I know, that description is oxymoronic, a beer can be a lager, or it can be an ale, but it cannot be a "lager ale". Perhaps a bit of a bottle label translation problem. Somebody in Latvia is going to get fired.

The beer appears black in color, a dense and dark ruby when held to the light. There is a tall head of fizzy light brown foam that diminishes rapidly. The aroma is dark roasted malt with a mineral and lightly metallic tang on the end. The taste is sweet, yet bitter, dark roasted, yet tangy. There is some mocha, dark chocolate, herbal, bittersweet. It finishes quite dry. The carbonation is noticeable, but it has a rounded smoothness and is full-bodied without being thick. It has nice flavors, but in the end is just a tad too sweet for me.

Here is a bottle from 2010. Notice it only says "lager." So is this a porter or a black lager? Even Aldaris doesn't seem to know...