People's Porter - Foothills Brewing Company

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