Old Eight Porter - Barley John's Brew Pub

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: fully black, near-opaque, with a short, yet substantial head above, toasty tan. Aroma: roasty, peppery, notes of anise, and bittersweet espresso, and chocolate.
Gritty, earthy taste, solid, rich character, loaded with malt, just a whiff of hoppiness, full-bodied. Easily drinkable, despite the higher-than-normal ABV. A very pleasurable porter, indeed.
I was just getting used to this one, when along came the waitress, unbidden, with free samples of Alfred's Porter, their step above, weighing in at 14%!
I'll try a full sample of that, next time, if I can, but I'll look forward to this every visit!

Serving type: on-tap

03-19-2004 07:44:11 | More by feloniousmonk

tavernjef

Minnesota

3.2/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Color is very, very dark solid brown, nearly black with a thin tannish-cocoa brown head that fades to a thin ring and small sheets of lacing. Smell is a good sense of dark roastyness and chocolate with a good coffee backing which seems to pick up and become more evident as it warms. Taste comes across way to soon and very uneven of coffee, chocolate and bittering hops, very unbalanced, almost enough for it to be enjoyable. The alcohol of 8% makes an appearance far to soon and is what really makes the flavors falter, it seems to get in the way of any taste.The finish is tolerable with light lingering dark fruits and sweet malts. Its overbearing in the start making this very hard to enjoy or finish. The richness trying to poke through is bogged down by uneven chocolaty bitterness that just never settles or shines like a good chocolate should and the coffee flavor seems like its a week old in pot with only about an inch of liquid left in it. Didn't like this one, seems like it could be better, perhaps next time I'm in at Barley John's I'll try it again sense it is a year round tap.

Serving type: on-tap

08-13-2003 00:42:22 | More by tavernjef