Broken Clock Nordic Night Winter Porter / MN Breweries One by One #120

Broken Clock Nordic Night Winter Porter. 6.3% ABV, 46 IBU. Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative, Minneapolis, MN.

To the eye: Dark brown color, with ruby highlight, under a solid cocoa-tinged slice of foam.

In the nose: Some sweetness, a little fruit, a touch of spice, but altogether a malty affair. There's an interesting blend of spices here, mingling with the cocoa, caramel, & coffee underneath.

In the mouth: Warm and flavorful from the first sip. Medium bodied, long malty finish. Nice integration of flavors, well balanced. Great iteration of a spiced wintry porter. I haven't had one of those in a while, and they can be a refreshing change of pace.

Official word from the brewery: Chocolate and spice aroma with strong dark chocolate and toffee flavors intermingled with spices, including nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cinnamon. 

This will be the seventh beer I've tried from this brewery, thanks to samples. And I've decided to make this post also Minnesota Breweries One by One # 120, because I paid them a visit back on Saturday, September 16, in between my first taste of Head Flyer and my first time at the new 56 brewing facility.

Broken Clock is at 3134 California Street in NE Minneapolis, occupying the same space as 56 before them, and NorthGate before that. Their operations are hindered in the same way as those others due to their lack of proper rest room facilities, which prohibits them from running a taproom on premises. Occasionally they are allowed certain "pint nights" when they may serve sixteen ounces to customers, as long as they've rented out a Biffy, or any other brand of portable water closet.

I'd first heard of Broken Clock through the promotions of my friend Dale Thomas, one of the directors of this collective. At the time, there was some confusion between this upcoming brewery and another with a similar-sounding name, Clockwerks. In hindsight, we can surely have two "Clock" breweries, just as we have three that start with "In-" and two that start with "North", despite occasional lawsuits.

As stated above, I got to try their beers through samples and have had two of their beers on tap at Acadia, where I'm in charge of ordering. I like supporting the plucky upstarts and these guys are as plucky as any of them. It helps, also, if the beer is quality stuff, and it is.

This was stop number three for me on the 16th of September, after a fight and some at Headflyer and a pint at Bauhaus to stop and figure out how to get there. It wasn't hard at all, since I'd been there before last October, when I stopped in at 56 Brewing at that location. You do have to look for it, though. This was not one of those aforementioned pint nights, just a regular tastings and growlers/crowler sales. They would let you drink your crowler on premise, if you wished, using

Clocks are not only in the logo at Broken Clock.

plastic cups that they provide. There wasn't anything on at the time that I hadn't had yet, or hadn't reviewed here before, so I sampled them again while talking to the brewers who were manning the taps. Took home a Sundial IPA in a crowler, but chose to save it for later, rather than consuming all 750 milliliters there at the picnic table. I would have needed a friend to help me out with that.

I was up-to-date with Broken Clock at that time, but when I check Untappd, it seems that I've missed out on an Imperial Stout called RISe', and a Spruce ESB. I like what they're doing here, and it seems like they're using a home-brewer's sense of experimentation and achieving professional results.

So, it looks like I need to get out there again and keep with their new products. I can't always expect to stay on top of the scene by waiting for breweries to bring me samples. I mean, that would be great, of course. And is it that much to ask, really? (Dear readers: this is one of those statements that I make from time to time that is meant to be read tongue in cheek.)

Never mind, I'll check in on Broken Clock very soon.  Nice beers, all around. Keep 'em coming guys.