Silver City Panther Lake Porter

I found me a couple new Silver City brews for me to try. This is their year-round porter which features Pale, Chocolate, Honey, Munich, Brown, and Caramel malts with flaked barley, Nugget, and Liberty hops.

Stats:
American Porter. 6.0% ABV. 35 IBUs. Washington.

Nice dark brown color with quite a nice off-white head.

A little bit of chocolate and roast on the nose, not too much else though.

Mouthfeel is quite lovely with a silky medium to full body.

Chocolate, roast, little bit of vanilla. Nice length with a really lovely roast flavor.

Not much to say about this beer. It’s just a solid porter. Nothing that’s going to amaze and wow you, but it’s good. 88 points.

Stone Smoked Porter Re-Review

It’s actually been years since I’ve had this beer, but when it was recently shipped to my beer store, I grabbed a fresh bottle. You can read my original review here. I wasn’t impressed the first time I had it, but maybe it will win me over this time.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.9% ABV. 53 IBUs. California.

Fairly light colored porter with a lot of red coming through. Really nice head on here.

Not too much happening on the nose. It’s got only a hint of smoke, but it’s mostly a chocolate malty aroma.

The mouthfeel is quite nice. It’s fairly thick with a low amount of carbonation.

Again, very little smoke on here. It’s got a lot of chocolate, and a hint of coffee. That’s about it.

Really unimpressive for Stone. The smoke is barely there, and subtle isn’t really Stone’s game. 79 points.

Pike Post Alley Porter

This is a new one for Pike and hasn’t even been listed on the website yet. It’s, of course, named after the famous alley near the Market, but that’s about all I know of this one.

Stats:
American Porter. 6.0% ABV. Washington.

Very dark porter, almost black with a fantastic tan head.

A little bit of cocoa and roasted barley coming through, but not getting much of anything else on the nose.

Mouthfeel is nice and full-bodied with a low carbonation.

Cocoa, truffels, chocolate bar, whatever you want, if it’s chocolate, it’s here. It transitions to a nice little earthy hop profile and a roast barley finish.

Solid, very solid. Definitely one of the better porters that I’ve had. Kudos to you Pike. 90 points.

Big Sky Bobo’s Robust Porter

This beer is a limited release from Montana’s Big Sky Brewing. This porter features Pale, Crystal, Chocolate, Brown and Black malts with roast barley and East Goldings and Challenger hops.

Stats:
American Porter. 6.2% ABV. Montana. Limited Release.

Nice dark chocolate brown color, but the head is completely gone now.

Lots of chocolate and caramel on the nose, a little bit of honey sweetness and roast. It smells pretty delicious.

Nice medium body with medium carbonation.

Lots of chocolate and caramel with that vanilla. Honey and baked apples come through on the back with a hint of roast on the finish.

I’m really loving this beer. It’s a pretty thick, sweet style of porter that brings a ton of flavor. It’s just what I’m looking for. 91 points.

Nebraska Toasted Barn

Thanks to Frank again for this beer. This one kicks of the Inception Series from Nebraska Brewing. The series is designed as an experiment in their barrel aging program with small batch, limited releases. The Toasted Barn is a smoked porter aged in Colorado whiskey barrels. I don’t recall ever having a smoked, and oaked beer, so this should be interesting.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.6% ABV. Nebraska. Limited Release.

Dark brown to black color. Nice tan head.

Nice nose. Definitely has that whiskey component mixed with chocolate and vanilla. There is a hint of smoke, but I wouldn’t assume it was a smoked beer. The whiskey comes through the most here.

Mouthfeel is very nice medium body with a medium carbonation.

Whiskey and vanilla up front, then turns into the smoked porter characteristics. Chocolate, roast, and coffee mix. The finish is long with a vanilla and smoke flavor.

This is pretty tasty. They did a good job with the balance on this one, and the flavors definitely compliment one another. 90 points.

Ninkasi ReNewAle 2012

This is the new ReNewAle. Last years was an Irish Red, and this year is Porter. This beer features 2-row, Chocolate, Carapils, Carahell, Carafa III, Crisp 77, with Flaked and Roasted Barley. The hops include German Northern Brewer, Horizon, and Sterling.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.9% ABV. 38 IBUs. Oregon. Available January-March

Dark brown to dark ruby in color. Has a decent off-white head.

The nose is a bit grainy and sweet smelling. There is a bit of chocolate. It actually smells a lot like Guinness.

Mouthfeel is not bad. Medium body, higher level of carbonation.

Sweet grainy flavor meets an anise and chocolate component. It’s actually got a hint of tang and has a considerable hop backend and a grainy finish.

It’s a decent beer, but it’s awfully light, and the hops do pop, giving it medium bitterness. 84 points

Firestone Walker Walker’s Reserve Robust Porter

Here’s a porter from Firestone Walker. This beer features 2-row, Maris Otter, Crystal 77, Crystal 120, DH Carafa, Chocolate, and wheat malts with oat flakes, US Goldings, East Kent Goldings, and Cascade hops. Looks like this beer also touches some oak.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.8% ABV. California.

Nice dark chocolate brown to ruby color with a tan head.

The nose is actually fairly closed but it does have a nice touch of chocolate, banana, and roast.

Mouthfeel is perfect. Nice medium body with a perfect amount of medium carbonation.

Some chocolate and a hint of roast come through here. Just a hint of caramel and coffee. Nice little espresso finish.

Solid beer, but doesn’t blow me away. It just lacks “umph”. 87 points.

Yo-Ho Tokyo Black

Well here’s a new one for me. I got a couple beers from the Yo-Ho Brewing Co. for Christmas. Let’s see if this Japanese beer is any good.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.0% ABV. Japan.

Dark chocolate brown in color. Head doesn’t last too long.

The nose is fantastic. It’s very chocolatey, with a little bit of roast and sweetness.

Mouthfeel is a bit too light, but highly drinkable.

Chocolate, coffee, caramel, and vanilla. It’s a bit sweet and easy drinking, with a nice little roasty length.

This is actually a pretty delicious beer. I love the little bit of sweetness with the roast, I just wish the mouthfeel was a bit better. 87 points.

Midnight Sun TREAT

This is an Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter. Doesn’t that sound amazing? If you are wondering what TREAT stands for, and why wouldn’t you be, it’s The Royal Eccentric Ale Treatment. This beer features Pale, Carafa, and chocolate malts and Fuggles hops with pumpkin, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Stats:
Pumpkin Ale/Porter. 7.8% ABV. 30 IBUs. Alaska. Fall Seasonal.

Dark chocolate brown to black in color. Not much head on this one.

The nose is just like a pumpkin beer with all the spices coming through, but has a nice chocolate component, too.

Mouthfeel is actually a little light. I’d like to see a bigger body with less carbonation.

Just like the nose, it’s got the spices with a nice bit of chocolate. If I had this totally blind, I wouldn’t even think it was a porter. It’s doesn’t have much roast on it.

Not a bad beer, but doesn’t blow me away. The chocolate is pretty light and drowned out. Reminds me a lot of the Pumking with a little bit of cocoa. 87 points

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

I’ve had this beer a bunch of times before. It’s definitely one of my favorites, but for some reason, I’ve never reviewed it. Looks like this porter features 2-row pale, Chocolate wheat, Dextrin, and Crystal malts with Cascade, Galena, and Tettnang hops.

Stats:
American Porter. 5.2% ABV. 30 IBUs. Oregon.

Dark ruby in color with a fantastic, tan head.

I’m actually not getting much on the nose, though it is a bit cold. I’m getting some chocolate, vanilla, and roast.

Mouthfeel is huge, but it has quite a bit of carbonation.

The palate brings coffee, chocolate, vanilla, raspberries, and a hint of honey. It has this amazing vanilla and roast length, but it’s not bitter. It’s got just a hair of sweetness.

I’ve never had a better porter. Enough said. 94 points