Beer Review:Grand Imperial Porter

Price: $2.25 for 16.9 oz
Brewery: Browar Amber, Poland.
Style: Imperial Porter
ABV: 8%
Color: Dark Brown to Black, Opaque.
Aroma:Chocolate Malt, Slight fruity, hint of Apple, hint of Oatmeal.
Body: Medium
Stomach Aspect: Full. It's a Porter so it's going to have an impact on your stomach.
Head: Wonderful from the pour, tan color with tightly grouped bubbles. But quickly fades.
Head Retention: None. The head leaves no mark on the sides of the glass.
Taste front of the tongue picks up on the sweetness of the brew. Middle of the tongue has little bitterness. Back of the tongue has mild Hop bitterness. very faint Chocolate Malt Flavor. The brew is almost like drinking a Barley Wine due to the sweetness flavors it gives off.
Conclusion: The aroma of the beer immediately made itself present. The aroma was a sweet, Apple, Oatmeal, with Chocolate dashes. Pouring the beer the head forms to a great half-inch thick foam, but it quickly dissipates. Tasting the brew your tongue immediately is assaulted by the sweetness of the brew. Honestly I was thinking I was drinking an Imperial Porter because of the sweetness. Moving the brew to the middle of the tongue and you get the slightest hint of Malt bitterness (probably from the Chocolate Malt). Swallowing the brew you get a quick, but sharp hit of Hop bitterness, and finally it goes down the Gullet with a thick Malty finish. Okay, now let's talk about the beer's other aspects. Wait for it...Wait for it....Exactly...There isn't any. For being a Porter (and Imperial Porter) at that the brew doesn't resemble a Porter at all. The Chocolate and Roasted Barley flavors are not present (the two biggest features of a Porter), but yet it has Fruity undertones as if you were drinking a Marzen or Trappist Ale. I double checked the bottle, yep it said Imperial Porter, but there was no Porter to be found. Yes the brew has a nice fruity taste, yes the aroma is good and fruity, but where's the Roasted Barley or Chocolate Bitterness? I'm not sure what the brewers where trying to accomplish, but I think they fell short of reaching Imperial Porter status. Maybe this brew was suppose to be an Imperial Porter, but came out sweet, malty, and fruity and instead of classifying it under a different category, they slapped the Imperial Porter label on it and shipped it. One great note about this brew is that being 8% ABV you don't taste any alcohol which sneaks up on you halfway through the pint (maybe the brewers ploy to hide the flavor of the beer). I mean 8oz through a 16.9oz pint, and I'm a little warm due to the alcohol. To be honest, very rarely do I pour out a beer (and I have worked my way through some shitty beers), but I could only handle 8oz (half pint) of this brew. The fruity flavor, heavy malt finish, and fruit aroma have beaten me to submission. The label says "Grand Imperial Porter." I have to question this label. The label also says a "bittersweet aftertaste with a hint of Coffee." It would have been nice to have Coffee flavor to give the beer a little more edginess. I am really disappointed in this brew.
Public Aspect: The public aspect of this is simple. You're bringing a bottle labeled Imperial Porter to an event. First thing, the word Imperial (when seeing this on a beer, get ready for big, high alcohol beer), and second it's a Porter which means it's going to be on the darker side of beer. Once the flavor gets out, you won't have to fight anybody to keep your beer. Most people will be turned off the style of beer, the flavor of the beer, and finally the color of the beer.