Boulvard Brewing's Bully! Porter

I am on such an emotional roller coaster at the moment. Please don't be fooled by the picture we just uploaded for Boulevard's birthday... I wiped away the tears less than a minute before the picture was taken. It's Boulevard Brewing's 24th birthday, so happy birthday to a long-standing favorite of ours!!! That's a great accomplishment to ride the craft beer revolution since 1989. On the sad note, we're hoping that our friends and family in Washington and Pekin and East Peoria, Illinois, are all safe, as they were hit quite hard by a very destructive tornado today. I am a hot mess of tears if I look at photo and video coverage of the destruction.

So, to get my mind off the sadness in my hometown, let's get to one of my favorite Boulevard beers, their Bully! Porter. This pours a lovely deep brown-black, opaque to the eye, with a fluffy khaki-colored head. The nose on this is just beautiful, with roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, and hints of dark fruit floating across my olfactory nerve. Nothing overpowering, it's a light aroma with this. Taking a sip, I'm falling back in love with this beer (unfortunately, it's not one we can get in Ohio, so this is one I tend to miss when I don't have it). Boulevard, based in Kansas City, was recently purchased by Duvel in Belgium, so we're hoping for wider distribution (since we can get Duvel in Ohio) and that they don't change the great recipes. Anyway, let's get to my favorite part of this: drinking the damn beer already! This has such a beautiful flavor. It's light, with the dark fruits really coming through at the beginning of the sip, melding beautifully with the coffee and roasted barley notes, then fading into a semisweet chocolate finish which dries out perfectly in my tongue. It's very light without being watery. It feels rather light in the mouth and is well-carbonated.

This is a perfect example of a great porter. It's not overly heavy, not going to kill your palate, but has such gorgeous light roasted notes that it's a great autumn beer. This is one I would consider pairing with a chocolate dessert, poached pears, or a bonfire. Just not a tornado. I'm going to light a candle for quick recovery and few casualties in my hometown.

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

We figured we'd do this review to show the people of Illinois our love and support (as we purchased this in Pekin, Illinois). We wish the best to everyone who has been through this terrible, unpredictable chaos.

With the heartfelt message out there now, I now get to distract focus onto one of my biggest passions in this world,  BEER. This poured a gorgeous dark brown, almost black, actually, think cola color, with a nice fluffy khaki head that dissipated quickly. This has had time to warm up, as my Partner-in-Zymurgy completed her portion of this. The nose on this is dark fruit, roasted notes and coffee. The dark fruit is more prevalent now than it was at first pour. The initial sip is divine. If Hopsus had  malty offspring, this beer would be the praise of him/her.  Offspring of Hopsus Be Praised? The flavor is like the nose, only the dark fruits have backed away from taking lead chair on this. The roasted malts and coffee tones really come through with hints of the dark fruits giving a nice smooth balanced flavor with some tones of chocolate rounding out the backend. Nice smooth dry finish and lighter/medium mouthfeel really makes this a good anytime brew, not just Autumn. I could see myself drinking this in the middle of Summer.

I think I just reconfirmed everything Jennie said. Happy birthday to Boulevard, and please continue the amazing beers (and if all possible, bring distribution to Ohio?).

4.6/5 caps

-Nathan-