King Titus Clone Attempt Tasting

A few weeks ago I brewed a Robust Porter, attempting to duplicate the King Titus from Maine Beer Company. The clone competition is on August 2, and although I likely won't be able to go, I hope to get some compare and contrast notes about my clone attempt.

I did a side by side tasting last weekend with my wife and a few friends, and I wasn't about to be all asocial by writing up the comparison on the blog as we were all tasting it.

Appearance: Dark brown if not black body, with a dark brown head that unfortunately does not stick around as long as I'd like, but leaves OK lacing on the side of the glass as I drink it. Nearly opaque.

Aroma: I get a fairly coffee / chocolatey / roasty aroma, with a good bit of resiny hop smell. The roast character is more prominent but not by a whole lot.

Taste: I get a roasty taste but also a decent bit of bitterness mixed in there. It has a moderate amount of chocolate and coffee flavors. The roastiness really comes through during the aftertaste. A bit of sweetness beneath the roast and hop characters, but still on the dry side to my palate.

Mouthfeel: Moderate to low carbonation, with a sort of thick or chewy character, both I think from the resinous hops and some slight sweetness in the body.

Overall: A roasty, chocolately robust porter with some resiny American hop aroma and bitterness. Moderate to low carbonation, with a thick body. I like it, though it tastes to my palate a little too similar to the American Stout I brewed a while ago that ended up tasting like a "Black IPA" or whatever you want to call it.

Comparison to the real King Titus: As I recall, the real KT had a way more dominant chocolate character, more sweetness, a chewier body and a little bit more carbonation. The hops in the real KT were much more subdued that in mine, despite that the brewer's description of KT says that it has a plentiful amount of bold American hops. Whatever. Is that an accurate description of the real KT? If so I must never have had fresh enough KT that the hop character was well preserved. In any case, I'm very curious to see what kind of feedback I get about this beer during the clone comp.

For next time: Reduce hop presence, increase chocolate malts, and perhaps use more oats to give a fuller body, even while slightly increase carbonation level.