People's Porter - Foothills Brewing Company

nickd717

California

4.03/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Draft at the brewery.

A - Nice darkest brown appearance with a small tan head that settles to a ring with good lacing.

S - Aroma is roast, coffee, and bitter chocolate. Smells great.

T - Roasted malt, chocolate, and some smoke. Some subtle piney hop flavor as well. Good stuff, second only to their Seeing Double DIPA on this trip to Foothills.

M - Medium body with a nice dry finish and some lingering bitterness (from the roasted malt).

D - This beer is tasty and keeps you coming back for more.

Serving type: on-tap

09-25-2009 01:31:19 | More by nickd717

LilBeerDoctor

New York

4/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed on 06/21/2009. I had this on draft. This beer pours brown with a small head. The aroma is of coffee and roasted malt. The flavor is of bitter chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt. Robust palate and quite delicious. This was a surprisingly top-notch porter.

Serving type: on-tap

07-11-2009 17:52:58 | More by LilBeerDoctor

ROBORB

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

On tap at the Saucer and served in a English Pint glass. Poured a nice dark brown color with a 2 finger head. There was minimal lacing. Roasted malts and chocolate dominate the aroma. The taste has bitter chocolate, coffee and toffee. It is a little then but not so much that it is distracting. A nice sessionable porter.

Serving type: on-tap

04-16-2009 17:00:29 | More by ROBORB

cvstrickland

North Carolina

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The shaker pint draft is dark chocolate-brown with a sliver of dim ruby at the periphery and is capped with light tan foam. The head is pretty persistent and retains well, leaving successive rings of lacing at the sip-lines on the glass.

The smell is rich and dark with loads of heavily-toasted savory grain, light roast coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Mellow notes of dark, sugary caramels are well-balanced by grainy notes of gritty, dry dark roastiness.

The taste is rich and loaded with bittersweet chocolate and dark-roasted grain. Soft toffee flavors sprinkled with dry cocoa and powdered coffee shapeshift into mocha milkshake creaminess, soothing and satisfying the drinker along the way.

The drink is on the heavy end of the medium-bodied spectrum and is one silky-smooth quaffer. Rich, creamy, and delicious.

Serving type: on-tap

02-08-2009 11:31:32 | More by cvstrickland

CrellMoset

Virginia

4.22/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Boone Saloon, Boone, NC.

Appearance: A dark brown-bodied brew with hints of shiny, glittering garnet around the edges. The one-finger, slightly off white head fades rather quickly and leaves little blobs of erratic lace and a film.

Aroma: Wonderfully pungent and pleasant. Coffee and freshly toasted toast, very earthy in the roast, with a gradual bittersweet chocolate note emerging as it warms.

Taste: A really nice tasting, solid porter. Heavy chocolate notes, crisp, toasted malts, with plenty of sweet, lactic milkyness. The balance between roast and residual sweetness if just about right. Just a really nice balance of flavors, very tasty.

Mouthfeel: High carbonation makes for a crisp and big-bubbled, but even mouthfeel. The beer itself is relatively thin-bodied, but nice. Tone down the effervescence on this one just a little, and it'd be a 5.0.

Drinkability: What an unexpected and pleasant surprise in the most unlikely of places. This is one of the best porters I've had in quite some time and manages to hit just about all the right notes. The alcohol's low and nowhere to be found, to boot. Just a really good, all-around enjoyable porter - recommended if you see it on tap.

Serving type: on-tap

01-05-2009 00:37:06 | More by CrellMoset

ncbeermonger

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Vintage 301 in Greensboro

This beer is outstanding! I was introduced to it at a friends birthday party

Pours well, has a chocolate head

smells outstanding chocolaty and hints of caramel

noticeable hop taste, and smooth finish

the mouthfeel is good not overly heavy.

this porter is extremely drinkable! an outstanding beer from foothills!

Serving type: on-tap

12-31-2008 06:58:05 | More by ncbeermonger

Onenote81

North Carolina

4.13/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had this at the Brewery itself with my dinner. This was in the "kettle" last month when I toured the brewery, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Came out a dark jet-black with some ruby to the edges. Capped off by a pretty weak tan head that didn't last long. Some decent lacing, but nothing spectacular. Smell was a little tamed down from my other Porter experiences. Some roasted cocoa, pecans, espresso; all there, just not strong.

Great crisp mouthfeel that felt nice and slightly tingly in the mouth. Wonderful flavors of dark chocolate, roasted nuts, coffee, and some dark fruits wash over the palate. My wife doesn't really like darker beers, but loved this one. Great warming brew to enjoy a colder evening with. Delicious. Recommend.

Serving type: on-tap

12-07-2008 17:29:30 | More by Onenote81

oberon

North Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Glad to have this on tap where I work,poured into a stadard pint glass a a deep dark brown wirh some ruby highlights thruought the glass,a very tight formed beige colored one finger head atop.Aromas of charred fruit,dark roast coffee,and molasses,I love the char.Flavors are alot like the aromas,quite charred and fruity with just a hint of smoke,there is a molasses-like sweetness to it and a nice dry lingering finish.Smooth as all get out,just an awesome porter from Fotthills.Good job Jsmie.

Serving type: on-tap

11-03-2008 19:38:51 | More by oberon

rtratzlaff

North Carolina

3.45/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A black body with edges of ruby when held to the light. A decent head on this one.

Sweet chocolate malt in the nose with hop presence as well.

Taste is balanced with a sharp bitterness of roasted malt. Maybe its hop bitterness too, though I'm not sure.

Medium bodied with good carbonation to match.

Serving type: on-tap

04-23-2008 13:27:15 | More by rtratzlaff

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.58/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Served on tap at Snapshot in Greenville into a Pint Glass

A - Poured a very thick and inky colored black, very very dark, especially for a porter, which was immediately pleasing to me, as I knew this was going to be a good one. No light getting through on this one at all, really quite opaque. A large three finger high head of chocolate colored foam then rose up over the top of it with tremendous retention. After a few minutes it finally settled down to just a thin pillow of tan that lasted throughout the rest of the session, giving it a really thick coating of brown all throughout the glass. Overall, this was an excellent looking porter and I was very excited to get to try this one.

S - The aroma was thick and heavy, again very big for a porter. Lots of notes of chocolate, almost completely dominated by it to be honest. Once you moved past that, there were some nice hints of sugary caramel and a touch of roasted coffee coming through in the smell now. Some nice roasted malts, a touch of smoke maybe, and definitely a hint of vanilla. The aroma was huge and I was just dying to try this one, so....

T - The flavor was wonderful. An extremely full and big profile greeted me almost immediately, really overwhelming the taste buds and sitting you down to let you know this was going to be killer. Full on chocolate malt assault as the first wave of flavor came over my tongue. Big notes here of dark chocolate mixed in with a touch of coffee as well. Very dark and complex, hints of vanilla, caramel, and lactose, all coming though very clearly now and giving me a very good feeling. The finish had a nice little dry hop twang to it; with some light grassy like flavors starting to come through as well. Long lingering finish was full of caramelized sugar and chocolate, this was definitely a very good porter and I was loving every minute of this.

M - Very rich and creamy profile, I was surprised by how full this one actually was. It was not the feel you get from your typical porter, this was borderline on a light stout to be honest. Very nice carbonation as it maintained that excellent feel throughout the entire the session. An excellent example her for sure.

D - This was absolutely a session beer, no question at all in regards to that. I was amazed by how easy and smooth it went down, and how rich the profile was. I would have loved to have had this one all day long, and plan on having many more trips back so that I may be able to have it again. This was truly excellent in every regard and a really easy one to drink.

Overall, I again thought this one was excellent. There was really nothing I could fine wrong with it and it is remarkable that beers this good are coming out of NC and nobody knows about them. If you really want to try and excellent porter, get one of us to send a growler of this your way. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Serving type: on-tap

02-07-2008 11:25:07 | More by mikesgroove

wagenvolks

Texas

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Flying Saucer in Raleigh, NC.

Pint glass was filled with a seal brown, quasi-opaque brew. Not much head, but the ring of foam that did exist was well retained. Aroma was heavy on the toffee & caramel malts, with secondary notes of cocoa and baker's chocolate. Hops made a small appearance.

Excellent flavor for an English Porter stlye. Roasted malts, toffee, rye, biscuity sweet chocolate, and coffee grounds came together with a pinch of hops to make an excellent flavor profile. Mouthfeel wasn't overly special, but still quite good: creamy, medium body, nice carbonation, and a solid, bitter finish. For 5.7%, this is one hell of a porter. I'll definately be filling up a growler of this next time I'm through Winston-Salem.

Serving type: on-tap

02-07-2008 05:51:15 | More by wagenvolks

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at the brewpub.

Pours a dark brown with some garnet highlights around the edges of the glass with a thin tan head that retained nicely around the rim and left some decent lacing. The aroma is of caramel sweetness, light chocolate notes, and roasted malts.

The taste is mellow caramel and cocoa sweetness, molassas, roasted malt notes and some light hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly creamy but posesses just a tad too much carbonation at some points. I'm wondering if this was just a problem that the brewpub was having that day.

All in all though, this was a very well crafted, tasty and hugely quaffable Porter from Foothills. I just missed this on our last visit back in November, so it was a pleasure to finally be able to try it.

Serving type: on-tap

02-06-2008 17:16:50 | More by Kegatron

wcudwight

North Carolina

4.83/5  rDev +23.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Nearly opaque, black in color with a lasting khaki colored head. Georgous, thick, sheets of lacing line the glass.
Heavy on the roasted and coffee aromas.
Delicious roasted malt flavors with some cocoa in the back ground. Hops shine in the finish and linger in the aftertaste. Perfectly balanced beer. With that said the perfect tasting porter as I can't imagine a porter tasting any better.
Silky smooth mouthfeel. Hops in the finish add just enough bite to make the mouthfeel interesting.
Way too drinkable. I was at a bar with 40+ taps and could spend the whole night drinking just this. Excellent porter, excellent beer. Go to your local tap room and order a pint. Go to the brewery and get you a growler. Or, trade for a growler.

Serving type: on-tap

12-30-2007 06:40:43 | More by wcudwight

kkipple

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at CW's in Columbia.

A: A deep opaque brown beer, with a 2 finger tight tan head that lasts and lasts.

S: I get sweet roasted malt, cocoa, coffee, minor hop bitterness. A basic porter smell, nothing fancy or weird.

T: Lightly blackened malt, cocoa, burnt sugar, and coffee swirl in a rich blend that's perfectly bittersweet. Classic porter flavors done well!

M. Nailed! Creamy but not thick, and mellow enough to gulp. No harshness here or undesirable sourness. Leaves behind a fine cocoa aftertaste. Eminently drinkable.

Frankly, this is another hit from Foothills, a company with which I'm rapidly becoming enamored. This is a classic pub porter. Well done.

Serving type: on-tap

02-20-2007 23:17:19 | More by kkipple

goindownsouth

South Carolina

4.33/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this one on tap a few days ago, prior to its big release in Greenville, SC.

Fantastic in its appearance, deep and rich in colour. Thick, robust head with good retention. Aroma rich with notes of toasted grains and a bit of bittersweet chocolatey goodness. Smooth on the palate, the grain bill comes through with hints of chocolate and coffee. Good balance with the malt and hops in this one. A fantastic brew. While I am generally NOT a porter lover, this may well be my new session brew when it is officially released here locally.

Another solid offering from the folks at Foothills.

Prosit!

Serving type: on-tap

02-15-2007 18:38:45 | More by goindownsouth

atsprings

North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this one on draft at the Brewpub in Winston Salem. On some levels, it is not much different from most average porters. I am, however, much more accustomed to American style porters. The flavor was definitely on the robust side, with subtle coffee and cocoa coming through in the aftertaste. Very warming on a cold rainy winter night for a beer of normal alcohol strength. I hope to see this at the Raleigh Flying Saucer so I can have it again this winter.

Serving type: on-tap

01-25-2007 17:56:52 | More by atsprings

Maxwell

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a nice dark brown to light black with a soft tan head of tiny, soft bubbles. The head leaves a lacing of slippery spittle droplets on the sides of the glass. The body is indecipherable in its darkness but shows some light molasses-like colors on its edges that seem clean of particles. On the nose, the beer smells of light, roasted coffee with a kiss of mocha and dark chocolate. Milk chocolate also briefly touches the nose. On the tongue, the beer tastes of bitter roast with a kiss of hops. Sweetness is also prevalent from the malts, though subdued, and more chocolaty than sugary. In flavor, the beer begins as warm roasted chocolate which blossoms into roasted coffee, moving from light roast to dark roast and filling the mouth with a nice, bitter roasted flavor with slight hints of raisins and dark fruit in among the roast. The finish carries a slight flavor of ice and metal, oddly enough, with a dying bitter roasted coffee flavor that hints at chocolate and some slight earthiness that balances out the flavor. The aftertaste is of lingering bitter roasted coffee and char. In the mouth, the beer feels medium in body, and perhaps even lighter, though the beer does carry a little heaviness in the swallow. Carbonation is soft and almost fluffy on the mouth, and the mouth is left roasted dry. Overall, this is a pretty classic American porter. There is nothing fancy about it, but it’s tasty. It has its chocolate, it has its bitters, and it has its roasted coffee flavors. A nice porter for when you want something simple.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 22:49:13 | More by Maxwell

UCLABrewN84

California

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle someone brought to share at drewone's tasting.

Pours a hazy dark brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, and caramel aromas. Taste is much the same with cocoa and metallic flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with a solid cocoa and roasty presence.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2013 17:00:38 | More by UCLABrewN84

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.59/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into a pint glass

Appearance-The beer pours a nice deep brown color with a small rocky brown head that was present upon pouring. The head has a good level of retention, slowly fading to leave a light level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma was rather heavy of dark roasted malt and aromas of chocolate malt. There are undertones of coffee as well as a light sweetness of caramel and vanilla

Taste - The taste begins with a big roasted malt flavor with lots of chocolate tones upfront. Carmel and toffee flavors mingle with these soon after the start, sweetening the taste very lightly. These taste mingle until the end to where they are joined by a roasted coffee and a bit of earthiness. In the end, these new flavors bitter the taste more, with the mix of flavors overall leaving a roasted and bitter chocolate flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel –The body of the brew was on the slightly thinner side for a porter with a carbonation level that was light. The thinner carbonation was great for all the roasted flavors and made for a smooth drinker, although the thin body took away from these slightly and may have been better accentuated by a thicker body.

Overall- A decent porter overall. It had a good level of roasted chocolate and dark malt flavors with a nice bitter bite at the end. Not bad.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2013 01:13:08 | More by Darkmagus82

MadScientist

New York

3.99/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Very dark brown with moderate clarity. The rocky brown head has decent retention and leaves omse lacing on the glass.

S: Moderate malt and roast aromas with a slight chocolate character and some caramel. a low earthy hops.

T: Roast and hops are the primary flavors here with a medium roast flavor, moderate hops bitterness and moderate herbal hops taste. There is a low English yeast type of a fruitiness. Some caramel and toffee malt character. The balance is somewhat bitter. The finish is medium-dry with some roast in the aftertaste.

M: A medium-full bodied beer with moderate carbonation with a medium creaminess. There is slight dryness that seems to come from the roast grains.

O: Not smooth porter having just a slightly bitter edge with good roast. Roast and hops bitterness dominate while being enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2013 22:28:38 | More by MadScientist

Treyliff

West Virginia

3.93/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A- pours a pitch black color with a two finger light tan head, good retention and a bit of lace

S- burnt caramel and toffee notes, cocoa and a touch of coffee, some toasted grain on the finish

T- roasted chocolate notes with a bit of bitter hops, light charred character, sweet toffee, the finish is slightly bitter and dry with a roasted chocolate linger

M- somewhat light body, low carbonation, foamy mouthfeel and a smooth finish

O- easy drinking and well balanced, great value for the price

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2013 03:41:14 | More by Treyliff

fmccormi

New York

3.94/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Straight pour from a 12oz pry-off bottle to my tall Ommegang flute; no freshness dating, but this was purchased at Sam’s Quick Shop in Durham just about a week ago, and in my experience craft beer spots have a pretty good turnover so it’s very safe to assume that this is reasonably fresh.

Appearance (4.5): Two full fingers of latte-colored foam rises off of pour, capping a moderately clear, very dark, deep ruby-brown. I say “moderately” because you can only tell when it’s held up to the light closely. The head crackles a bit and is mostly very fine-grained but some medium-sized and fat bubbles blister away here and there leaving a rocky surface and chunky lace on the sides of the glass—this is actually a really great-looking porter.

Smell (4.0): Dominated by mocha, dark cocoa, some molasses and toffee, and dark fruits underneath, especially prunes. Fully roasted in the nose without any acrid charring, and no sticky-sweet malt underneath, just moderately rich and dry with good mocha character.

Taste (3.75): More roast is evident on the palate, leaving a small amount of char—the astringency of which melds with slightly medicinal, herbal hops bitterness in the finish. Very small amounts of caramel and prune richness. This is really just a moderately bitter, more than moderately roasty, American-ish porter. Good coffee and unsweetened chocolate flavors. That dark cocoa powder really adds to a dry finish, which maintains an herbal bitterness without sacrificing the darkness of the roasted malt.

Mouthfeel (4.25): Quite light, considering the appearance: medium-weight or slightly under, with a good, rich, foaming carbonation action that tingles very slightly and expands easily and softly. The finish is dry with a slightly gaseous feeling—if this beer weren’t over 6% ABV, it’d make a great session beer, at least from the feel of it.

Overall (4.0): This is a very solid porter, and I bet it’d be pretty gnarly on nitro. Smooth enough without losing any of its roast or bitterness, and maintaining a dry finish with levity, this is a really easy to drink porter, for those who enjoy the style. For those who aren’t into dark beers, this may not be a good intro, but for those who are, this is definitely a tasty, accessible, and very affordable option.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2013 03:14:49 | More by fmccormi

dpodratsky3

Georgia

3.81/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass

A: Big foamy head settles to rocky, sticky foam, color is near black, very very dark brown with chestnut edges, great lacing

S: Malty with layers of caramel, nothing special

T: More roasted and less caramel than aroma, almost hints of wood, has background dark bread but decent roasted bitterness

M: Decent body but remains on the litter end, dry

O: Good flavor but heavy on the roast and low on complexity

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2013 01:27:06 | More by dpodratsky3

mntlover

Tennessee

3.99/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a black with some ruby around the edges. Has a nice darker tan head that falls to scum leaves some sparse lace behind.

Aroma is nice chocolate malts with some roasted character mostly coffee like under the chocolate.

Taste is roasted upfront with good doses of chocolate little light in the middle with a nice dry roasted finish. Finish has some nice roasted coffee flavors that mingle with grassy/minty like hops.

Mouthfeel is solid medium with average amounts of carbonation.

Overall a pretty solid porter good and favorable nothing over the top just as it should be.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2013 19:11:55 | More by mntlover

JasonTaverner

Virginia

3.91/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

I like this beer, but it is not great. It is a regular in my rotation due to it's availabity in my area. It is an easy drinking porter with decent taste, only the mouthfeel is a little watery and it has a slight burnt aftertaste. It gets better as it warms up. Still it a decent attempt at an english style porter.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2013 01:50:52 | More by JasonTaverner