Java Porter - Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant

birchstick

Missouri

3.25/5  rDev -14.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a dark chocolaty color with reddish hues around the edges. Smells of straight coffee with some chocolate tones as well. The taste starts with some bold coffee flavors. These fade to a little bit of chocolate flavor. Throughout there is a bit of of fresh plants / salad. Weird. This took away from eveverything else I was tasting. Decent mouthfeel with a nice body. Overall, this had a lot of potential but that weird flavor was off putting by the end of it. It was almost like the coffee was green before it was used in the brewing process.

Serving type: on-tap

11-03-2011 02:15:16 | More by birchstick

zeff80

Missouri

4.03/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Poured out an opaque, jet black color with a one-finger, tan head of soapy foam. It left thin trails of lace on the glass.

S - It smelled of coffee, coffee and more coffee. Very nice!

T - Good coffee flavor with some dark chocolate and toffee. It has a good bitter bite.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium bodied ale with a fairly dry finish.

O - This is a pretty tasty java porter. Great aroma and good taste.

Serving type: on-tap

06-20-2011 19:26:19 | More by zeff80

scubasteve04

Kansas

4.18/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had this at the Brewpub in a pint glass. It was brought to my table with very little head, but this was really not too surprising.

A: The appearance was a very deep black, and the slight residual foam was a deep tan as far as I could tell. I am giving this beer the benefit of the doubt in this category in light of how it was presented. Had I poured it myself, I know it would have looked better.

S: Lots of rich coffee, and much less chocolate than their regular porter.

T: Very roasty, full, and coffee-like. What I really liked about the flavor was how well the coffee flavor was balanced by the sweetness of the caramel malt, and the lightly pronounced chocolate notes. I could really taste the flavor of coffee, but I still knew I was drinking beer, which was good. Hops were there, but unless you're really looking for em play a relatively quiet role.

M: Good, not great.

D: The great smooth flavor combined with the clean finish make this very drinkable for such a deep brew.

I ended up getting a growler to take home, especially because both my girlfriend and I enjoyed this beer, which makes me happy.

Serving type: on-tap

01-09-2011 19:00:19 | More by scubasteve04

Goliath

Illinois

2.75/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

It looks virtually identical to the regular porter, but this didn't really come as any suprise. Dark brown, nearly black from a short distance, with some ruby hues in the light. Presented to me with no head.

The aroma is straight black coffee and a bit of a sour note. I'm not quite sure what it came from or how to describe it.

The taste is really not that impressive. The primary flavor is cheap coffee grounds, and nothing else. Basically, it reminds me of gas station coffee that's been on the burner all day. A little burnt, and cheap tasting.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and has very low carbonation, near nonexistent.

Drinkability is moderate to low. It's not completely offensive, and could easily be viewed as good to most. I think brewers think that by adding coffee it will be good, unfortunately if you add cheap coffee you'll get a cheap product. Next time, forget the Folgers and get some premium beans.

Serving type: on-tap

12-12-2008 00:44:13 | More by Goliath

jokelahoma

Missouri

4.4/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Showing as retired, but it's still available at the brewery.

Poured a deep brown, with reddish hues showing around the edges. There's very little head to this, probably due to oils in the coffee.

The aroma is, as one would expect, full of coffee, but with a surprising amount of hop nose, too.

The flavor is an excellent balance between the malt, hops, and coffee. Not the easiest thing to pull off, and they do it well here. There's a slight chocolatey taste to round out the sweet malt backbone, and little hop flavor to fight with the coffee. The bitterness one gets from the hops is subdued, but balanced by coffee bitterness and roasted grains. This is a marriage made in heaven. Very, very nicely put together.

The mouthfeel is a tad thinner than one might expect, yet doesn't really hurt the character of the brew at all.

This one is exceptionally easy to drink. Not just a cup of carbonated iced coffee, but truly a good porter supplemented with a dose of wonderful coffee flavors and aroma. Highly recommended.

Serving type: on-tap

05-17-2007 23:34:17 | More by jokelahoma

Mebuzzard

Colorado

4.22/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Has this a while ago, but finally found it on BA (couldn't remember which cat was blind).
Dark pour with a minimal head, traces of brown. Smell of coffee, black, strong. Some malt, some biscuit, but not much of either.
Taste was smooth coffee, with hints of malt and toast. Some dark fruit on the finish, but overall coffee dominated. Aftertaste starts out strong, but dissipates.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2006 03:10:15 | More by Mebuzzard

Jredner

Florida

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hugely concentrated coffee aroma, malt some roastiness. Deep black with a limp mocha head. Strong acidic coffee fore with a good bit of hops playing bitter backup that leads to a finish with sweet creamy malt flavors with an ample roastiness through the whole affair. Very tasty and well done brew.

Serving type: on-tap

03-07-2006 17:13:44 | More by Jredner

marc77

California

3.33/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Deep brown, with hints of garnet when held to light. Tan, dense head leaves intricate lace. Smooth, dark roast coffee dominates the aroma, with hints of burnt black patent and dryish chocolate secondary. Black malt bitterness upfront in flavor is superceded by by smoky, lightly nutty coffee. moderate hop bitterness combines with black malt and coffee bitterness to leave paltry malt sweetness. Lightly bodied, with a smooth mouthfeel from the low CO2 from cask conditioning. Aside from the coffee and black patent presence, malt character is understated. Finishes clean and a touch watery, with an impression of diluted espresso. With more malt backbone this could be excellent.

Serving type: cask

03-17-2003 13:58:45 | More by marc77