3Beans - Sixpoint Brewery

VelvetExtract

Massachusetts

4.36/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.5

A-Pours a very dark brown. High clarity. Head is creamy and full. It leaves long lacing capes. Looks great.

S-Absolute coffee bomb. The second sniff makes me revise my previous statement to "absolute mocha bomb". Remind me of a Dunkachino from Dunkin Donuts. Luscious chocolate and expensive coffee. Also some vanilla and hints of barrel. Love this aroma!

T-Cold coffee with a pinch of whiskey. Chocolate nuances. Mocha of course. Vanilla extract. Flat cola. French press. Almost like chomping on an espresso bean. As if someone left an Irish Coffee out for too long. Such an awesomely concentrated mixture of coffee and chocolate…with hints of holy oak.

M-Lighter than the gravity would initially suggest. Alcohol shows. Drinks easy enough.

O/D-I have been and will be a sucker for Sixpoint. This is easily one of my favorite offerings from them; if not my favorite. Its big and unwavering. If you have any interest in coffee and/or chocolate. Get this. I wish my coffee tasted like this each morning…I also wish my coffee made me feel like this in the morning too. Also this is the best looking can I have ever seen.

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 03:57:27 | More by VelvetExtract

JWU

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

12oz. can poured into a curved porter glass.

A- Very dark brown, can only see a bit of light through when held to a bright light. A nice tan head fades in about a minute or two, some lacing down the glass.

S- Bashes you over the head with coffee. The cocoa and oak are there as well, but it's certainly coffee dominant. Smells pretty fantastic IMHO.

T- I'm not a huge porter fan, but there is something about these big bold porters (Ballast Point Victory at Sea anyone??) that get me going. The coffee is a seriously quality roast, deep, dark, and adds significant flavor and bitterness from the start. There is a nice balancing sugary sweetness to offset the big blast of coffee bitterness. I get most of the cocoa and oak influences on the back end. Complex and delicious.

M- Medium to full and pretty slick on the palette for a porter. Light to medium carbonation that's very tight, but not overly aggressive.

O- Fan-stinking-tastic. I'll be seeking more of this ASAP. Sixpoint, you've done it again.

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 03:06:03 | More by JWU

DrinkSlurm

Connecticut

4.28/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from can into crooked stave tulip. Pours a deep brown black with tan head..but superb lacing. The aroma is what really stands out here...just straight up FRESH coffee...awesome! A bit of boozey oak.
Taste is again..fresh coffee. A bit of vanilla oak, and a tad of chocolate. Super super smooth. Such an awesome porter...its basically like the gorilla warfare porter on steroids; which is a good thing! Have one now!

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 02:45:19 | More by DrinkSlurm

StuporJew

Texas

3.43/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a can into DFH tulip.

A - Dark, coffee-brown, and almost impossible to see through when held up to a bright light.
Leaves a decent 3/4-finger head, that simmers down somewhat, and leaves a light amount of lacing on the glass. Fairly high amount of carbonation.

S - Smells amazing. Roasted coffee right up front, hints of cacao, cigar-box, and black-roasted malt. The 10% ABV is completely absent on the nose, although it might be more apparent after it passes cellar temperature.

T - Candy sugar, overwhelming (TOO heavily roasted?) coffee, caramelized fig, and of course, tobacco smoke. The alcohol is far too apparent for being only 10%... some could say that's a plus, a warning not to consume to quickly, but I beg to differ. Once again, another Sixpoint seasonal that just doesn't live up to the hype for me in the flavor department. Not bad, but not worth the 97 points it's currently getting from my fellow beer-geeks.

M - Far too thin for a baltic. The carbonation evident in the appearance doesn't come into play in the mouthfeel at all. Watery, almost. Once again, not bad, but not great.

O - As per usual with Sixpoint, I'm glad I tried it, but nothing about this beer makes it stand out and yell "HEY!!! I'M FRIGGIN' EPIC!!! DRINK ME NOWWW!!!" Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all of their year-round offerings, but none of their seasonal brews have stood out above the rest to me. However, the Idea of brewing BEANS into a beer to boost protein content and add naturally-occurring sugars is something I find intriguing, and will test myself, sometime in the near future. Also, if you are a home-brew nut, and are feeling adventurous, let me know... I just brewed a batch of Root Beer Stout, that will finish in March, and would be glad to share the recipe! All that said... Have a good good!

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 02:31:10 | More by StuporJew

alexgash

Connecticut

4.16/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

12 oz. slim-style can. Served at cellar temp.

Dark brown body, clear, with garnet highlights. Thick finger of bright light khaki head. Very nice lacing and retention. Nose of light roasted malts, rummy fruits, sweet molasses, licorice, coffee, and vanilla.

Roasted malts up front, along with dark chocolate bitterness. Dark fruit and rum sweetness fills in the palate. Notes of carob and molasses. Roasted coffee picks up and increases into the finish. More chocolate notes make for a nice mocha effect. Light vanilla and wood/oak in the finish. Lingering dark fruits, caramel, along with complementary dark chocolate and coffee bitterness. Medium-full body with a slightly creamy feel. Could be a touch thicker. Still, a very delicious beer.

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 01:58:11 | More by alexgash

brewtus

Ohio

4.06/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours dark dark brown, black, with a foamy two finger head. Subtle smells of coffee, dark chocolate, earthy. Taste is also subtle coffee, milky chocolate, smokey, a slightly bitter hop backbone. Texture is smooth, not too thick for 10%. Overall I think this pretty good and flavors balance well. I wish the coffee and chocolate flavors were more prominent but this was definatly a good pick up.

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 01:35:11 | More by brewtus

Kendo

New York

4.2/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A: Poured from the can straight down the middle into a pint glass. Body is dark brown with a nice nearly 2-finger tannish, cushiony head. Leaves good thick rings of lace up top and good splotchy lacing on the way down.

S: Pretty much smells the way a porter should smell - roasty, with roasted coffee beans and coffee (fairly strong in the nose) and just a hint of chocolate.

T: Coffee is the first impression on the first sip, but that may be from the nose as much as it is from any flavor. A couple more sips, however, confirm that first impression: i.e., there's a lot of coffee going on in the taste. Also roasted (slightly burnt) barley malt and a modest amount of chocolate, with the chocolate becoming more noticeable as it warms. Finishes with a good roasty bitterness and alcohol heat is felt on the way down to the belly, though not really noted on the palate.

M: The appearance and ABV of this beer may lead you to believe it's an Imperial Stout, but in the mouthfeel you know it's a porter. It's not heavy at all and drinks lighter than expected. Call it medium in heft

O: This is good stuff. Toes the line between roasty and chocolatey, with roasty and roasted coffee prevailing early, but chocolate stepping up as it warms up a little. Plus it packs a nice buzz.

Serving type: can

01-26-2013 01:31:36 | More by Kendo

Justin_Neff

Ohio

3.13/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Poured from can aggressively into CCB Snifter

A: Initial thought from the pour was actually a little disappointment. Dark brown color, but far from black. Appears thin. Beige colored, 1.5 finger head that also seemed a little thin. Head disappears, but the lacing on the glass is actually pretty nice.

S: Roasted coffee beans dominate the whiff. A little malty sweetness and some chocolate. I get a little nutty smell as well. Smells a little boozy too. About what I expected.

T: LOTS of coffee, but not much else. Hints of malt and some bitterness, but then a huge booze smack at the end - a little too abrupt for me.

M: A little harsh. Dry. Boozy. Over carbonated. Too thin. Not impressed with the body.

O: Very underwhelmed with this one. I had high hopes and I was disappointed. To be fair, I'm probably a little more critical of coffee brews, but this is one of the only times I've sipped a SixPoint brew and wasnt overly impressed.

Serving type: can

01-25-2013 23:34:43 | More by Justin_Neff

jaasen64

Massachusetts

3.81/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz slim can similar to the Red Bull Cans. 4-pack in a box purchased for $9.99.

A- Pours a very dark brown that appears an opaque black in the glass with a little over a quarter finger of mocha head that recedes at an average pace leaving behind thin layered lacing. Decent fairly slow rising carbonation that has decent consistency.

S- Espresso, sweet malts, light dark chocolate that blends right in with the espresso, hint of licorice. Well balanced, fairly aromatic, pleasant but not the most pleasant baltic porter I've smelled.

T- Sweet caramel malts, bitter dark chocolate, finishes with creamy espresso, a hint of booze, and more bitter chocolate. Lingering aftertaste of bitter chocolate, caramel, and a bit of espresso. Fairly malty and a little bit more bitter then I was expecting.

M- A little bit thin considering the abv, decent carbonation, fairly drinkable considering the abv.

O- This beer didn't impress me as much as I was hoping it would, but for the price it's extremely hard to beat. It was a bit too bitter for me and slightly on the thin side. The coffee and chocolate wasn't as robust as I was hoping it would be. That being said for $2.50/can this beer is one of the best for it's price range. I'd recommend trying it out.

Serving type: can

01-25-2013 22:51:14 | More by jaasen64

dlello2

Illinois

4.04/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

12oz can - quite fresh (best before July 10 2013).

A - Nice cola color. Good finger of khaki head. Lacing holds on, but not for long. Looks pretty thick. 4.0

S - Nice but nothing too special. Oddly the coffee isn't all that fresh smelling. Some dark chocolaty sweetness. 3.75

T - This is where this beer shines. Quite a nice chocolate/coffee blend. Sweet, but far from cloying. Getting more hops in the taste than the smell. Like it. 4.25

M - Medium-full body. This one is viscous. Decent creamy carbonation. Really nice. 4.25

O - A very easy drinking baltic porter. The 10% is hidden well. Almost too well--as I finish the glass (and the beer approaches room temp), it starts to resemble stale sweet root beer. I'll revisit, but not the most pleasant finish. 3.75

Serving type: can

01-25-2013 02:49:23 | More by dlello2

pmlondrigan

New York

3.94/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Really nice looking beer here. Lovely light tan two finger head. Lacing and speckling abound. Milk chocolate color with translucent edges of deep reddish brown. Rather inoccous aroma. It is slightly roasty, slight coffee quality and a hint of that cacao. Aromas of oak...no. I am pleased with the flavor more so then the aroma. A complex blend of coffee, cacao and roasted barley. The coffee flavour is round, soft, and apparent. The cacao/chocolate is subtle but present. The roast marrys well without being acrid. I detect no oak. If this is in fact a baltic porter it makes sense. There is a cleanness to this beer obtainable only through lagering. For a ten percent beer the alcohol does not get anywhere near detectable. The beer is clean on the palate, not cloying, slightly roasty and pleasant. This is one of the finest offering from sixpoint I have yet had. The beer is very drinkable, flavorful, but in the end complexity is somewhat lacking.

Serving type: can

01-25-2013 01:56:40 | More by pmlondrigan

Droogins

Massachusetts

4.09/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First review ever.

From the can into a giant balloon snifter.

A: It looks like I'm pouring a Coke, but once in the glass it settles to a nigh-impenetrable black. Reddish tint when held to a light, but it's a dark, dark porter. Maybe half a finger of light tan head that doesn't stick around, and at this ABV I don't blame it.

S: BOOM! COFFEE! There's some roasted cocoa in there, too, but that takes some digging. Boozy, too. I was reminded of coffee ice cream drizzled with Kahlua.

T: Once more, with feeling: COFFEE! And a sort of spicy cocoa kick to it that reminded me a little of a Lindt chili pepper chocolate bar. Roasty dark maltiness is in the background--this beer wants you tasting beans, not grains. Alcohol comes immediately in the finish. It makes no effort to hide its presence. A nice, hot, peppery kick. I don't mind this.

M: It felt smooth, but thinnish. Carbonation is low. I'm used to getting my coffee flavors from stouts, and this porter is a very welcome change. Doesn't feel like you're drinking a loaf of bread.

O: This is the best Sixpoint beer I've ever had. In fact, it probably supplants FBS as my favorite chocolate-coffee beer--FBS is a stout that tastes kind of like coffee, this is a porter that has had a sack of coffee beans shoved down its throat. If you find coffee stouts too thick and malty for your liking, and feel like they don't really let the coffee shine through, I think you'd like this coffee porter. But if you get turned off by beers that don't bother to hide their ABVs, you may want to try a taste before committing to a 4 pack. It's rather pricey.

Very, very good. I will be buying this again.

Serving type: can

01-25-2013 00:12:15 | More by Droogins

RandomBattle

New York

4.16/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz. can to a 12oz. snifter, how bout that...

Appearance - clean dark brown body with red highlights, topped with one fingers worth of a beautiful, soft, off white head. A nice looking porter.

Smell - Coffee is definitely the strongest aroma coming from this one, after revisiting you can get some nice dark cacao odors.

Taste - Coffee and chocolate. Understand however, it is an amazing balance between coffee, chocolate, and beer. The bitterness from both the coffee and the dark cacao integrate perfectly with this porter. To classify this as a "coffee" or "chocolate" beer, I feel, would be inaccurate. This beer uses the natural flavor of the aforementioned ingredients and combines it with a beer base that has similar attributes. The sweetness from this tastes amazingly organic and natural.

Mouthfeel - Slick and creamy, I'm wondering if this has to do with the Romano beans, seeing as they are added for that protein heft. Possibly. A creamy, easy sipper.

Overall - A great, well balanced, and delicious Baltic porter from Sixpoint. Glad to see them offer this kind of style, cause, lets face it, you don't see it all too often.

Serving type: can

01-24-2013 00:24:19 | More by RandomBattle

Billolick

New York

4.18/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Slim 12 ounce can from the boxed four pack. Best before dating on the bottom.

Pours darn near black. The head is mocha. The sheeting is extensive, high in the glass and quite fine. Nice looking beer.

Rich chocolate soaked nose.

Chocolate, coffee, vanilla, dark malts. Flavorful and very enjoyable dark stout porter. Smooth, refined and elegant sipper, with the its 10% nicely hidden. Well done. Another winner from Brooklyn's Sixpoint.

Is this a "one off", or will it be a regular in the Sixpoint line? I admit I am somewhat confused. Please make this fine beer often and in lage quantities.

Serving type: can

01-24-2013 00:23:07 | More by Billolick

TheLostGringo

Connecticut

4.19/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Picked up a 4 can box of this yesterday, excited to give this new Sixpoint offering.

A: Dark Brown, Solid couple of inches of Khaki colored head.

S: Light hint of coffee and molasses, would have preferred a stronger coffee influence.

T: Definite molasses flavors perhaps hint of coffee bitterness, incredibly drinkable considering the 10% abv.

M: Very good and silky smooth.

O: A very good beer and one I see drinking quite often. Really enjoyable and amazing the way it hides the alcohol very well. Only complaint is that it is called 3Beans and would like to see a little stronger coffee taste.

Serving type: can

01-23-2013 20:38:39 | More by TheLostGringo

BeerNotes

Ohio

4/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

A: Pours a really dark brown with a slight hint of ruby and a thick khaki head.

S: Roasty, dark chocolate aromas. Just a touch of the coffee. Slight hop hit at the end.

T: Sweet cocoa flavors in the middle complemented by a bitter coffee finish. Very well-balanced.

M: Very smooth with mild carbonation. Nice, big body. Silky finish.

O: This is the first Sixpoint beer I've had that I haven't been able to recognize as a Sixpoint. Their distinct hop flavors are fairly absent here, allowing their malts (and Romano beans) to mingle with the Mast Brother Chocolate cacao husks and Stumptown Coffee Roasters cold-brewed coffee. It's refreshingly light, for the amount of flavor it packs in. And the aftertaste is really lovely. I'm left craving just a little bit more roasty or smokey notes to round out the flavor profile.

Serving type: can

01-23-2013 02:31:10 | More by BeerNotes