Poured at 6°C from a 500ml bottle into a stemmed glass. Black to the edges, the pour viscous enough to coat the glass on the way in.
Fuggle over a chocolate / brown / oat base, finishing at 6.5% with 32 IBU. The restraint in that grain bill is the reason the rest of it works.
Spend a minute with the glass before drinking, because the nose is the best thing here. The palate is honest and a little plain after that introduction, though nothing about it is wrong.
It holds together across a second glass, which is not guaranteed at 6.5%. The bitterness accumulates rather than fatigues, and the aroma is still doing something by the bottom of the second pour, which is the real test of a cherry porter.
The fruit was clearly weighed in kilos rather than added from a bottle. Skin, stone and pith all show up, which is the tell: flavouring gives you the sweet part and nothing else.
Against the rest of the stout shelf this holds its own comfortably. It is not the beer that will convert anybody to the style, but it is the one you reach for once the converting is done, and at $6.50 / 473ml it is honestly priced.
Bought at Blood Brothers Bloor (in stock at the time of writing). Cellar temperature. Fridge cold flattens the cherry completely.
Best drunk fresh, in company, with nobody taking notes. We took notes anyway.
