Sierra Nevada Porter - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

ahemahem

California

4.6/5  rDev +17%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Okay, I was pretty satisfied with the Sierra Nevada Porter but this was a surprising upgrade.

I like Porters and have not found a lot of American brews that cause me to look forward. There are a couple of Canadian Stouts that have me really spoiled so my hopes were not high.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2012 06:12:21 | More by ahemahem

frankiepop

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer is dark brown, not the darkest Porter in history, but it's a dark beer typical Porter nonetheless. Gives good head.

Smell was a nice neat Porter smell. Sweet.

Taste..ahhh the taste is a nice classic Porter, all told in a nice smooth low carbonate creamy flow. Wondrous texture. I detect some chocolate from Chico CA. If anything ...., it may seem a little thinner than most Porters. A little dry. A little bitter. I wish a little more sweetness. But I am not complaining...too much.

So what do you listen to with this classic west coast style Porter? Well i recommend a modern classic west coast composer ... Lou Harrison's Gamelon CD!

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2012 04:37:44 | More by frankiepop

heygeebee

Australia

4.23/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cannot really add to this amount of reviews, can I?

Lets just say this is Good Beer.

Delightful roasted aromas, with a full flavour to back it up - lots of roast malt, chocolate in the mix but no nasty edges all very balanced and integrated.

Top stuff for the ABV.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2012 08:40:19 | More by heygeebee

Cozzatoad

Italy

4.05/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

12oz bottle, best before december 2012

A- Dark chocolate brown, nice ruby/reddish hints if seen through light. Couple of fingers, decently dense off-white head, nice retention. Not much lacing

S- Dark bready malts with notes of chocolate and molasses. Just a slight roasted hint, kind of low for the style. Nice, refreshing herbal (kind of piney) and citric hop touch

T- Pretty much what the smell suggested. Just a touch of roastiness upfront, with malts softness soon taking over (not so distantly reminds milk or oatmeal stouts). Notes of dark bread, chocolate, liquorice. Nice amount of refreshing hoppiness brings a quite assertive dry feel in both finish and aftertaste, along with fresh herbal and citric notes

M- Medium body, super-soft, slick mouthfeel on both tongue and palate. Carbonation is barely detectable, but sure fits perfectly with the smooth, soft feeling. As mentioned, still manages to finish with a dry, refreshing feel

O- Pretty interesting porter (at least for one who's used to drink english porters), brings a nice amount of american hoppiness, but still has that classic porter feeling. perfect balance and good drinkability. Much more refreshing than what i was expecting from a porter, kind of fits as a summer dark beer

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2012 18:01:02 | More by Cozzatoad

BostonHops

Massachusetts

3.73/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle served in a pint glass.

pours a dark, cola-like brown while yielding a 3/4" light tan head. average to slightly below-average lacing and lacing in patches. nose is a bit on the subtle side, offering roasty notes first and foremost, followed by some coffee and a hint of chocolate. also pick up on a slight hoppy presence.

flavor follows the aroma with roastiness, coffee, dark chocolate, and a touch of hops. medium-light bodied mouthfeel - a bit thin - with average carbonation.

overall i find this one to be a relatively tasty, above average porter. nothing crazy delicious but solid.

(originally reviewed: 10-25-2011)

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2012 01:55:44 | More by BostonHops

sethcroisant

Nebraska

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

A- dark, dark brown. close to being black with a light tan head and respectable lacing down the glass

S- hints of coffee and black malt. overall, heavy malt presence on the nose

T- bitterness from a combination of the black malt, hops and roasted barley. hints of coffee squeak in, probably just from the other ingredients melding together. somewhat high carbonation.

O- the carbonation level is a tad too much, but that doesn't come close to ruining this beautifully roasted porter. a relatively simple brew but very well done.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 03:40:24 | More by sethcroisant

TheSixthRing

California

3.68/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours a dark chocolate brown with ruby red tint where light penetrates. Head is a light cocoa color, 2 fingers thick with average retention, leaving behind a semi-sticky lace.

Smell - Lots of chocolate aromas on the nose, dark and sweet milk. Faint notes of coffee, with hints of citrus hoppiness sit in the background.

Taste - Starts with a touch of chocolate, toffee and a hint of roasted coffee, but before it can fully develop it's overtaken by a dominant citrus hop, leaving in it's wake only a trace of the once promising malt flavor. Finishes dry and with the back end of an orange peel in bitterness.

Mouthfeel - Medium body, with a healthy amount of carbonation, leading to a tingling on the lips and a crisp bite of the tongue. Tends to dry out the throat.

Overall - I really wanna love Sierra's porter (their stout as well), but I can't. It's too hoppy. Not enough deep notes of roasted malt, and what is there gets dominated by the high hop presence. If I want a hop dominant beer, I'll grab an IPA or strong ale... why you'd do this to a porter is beyond me. As a beer it's good. As a porter, it fails. This is closer to a CDA than anything.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2012 23:56:45 | More by TheSixthRing

intensify

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Live taste. 1 finger head poured into a snifter. Dark body with almost zero visibility.

S- Roasted malts, chocolate, dairy and coffee.

T- Follows closely behind the smell but with a toffee and black liquorish presence. Starts off with the bitterness from the malts and ends sweet.

M- A little too carbonated for my liking or this style. Medium bodied and easy to drink.

O- A good sipper. Would make a nice desert and is easy to drink. Does Sierra Nevada make any bad beers?

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2012 05:59:25 | More by intensify

angrybabboon

Rhode Island

4.1/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Consumed 5/14/12

Appearance: Dark, dark brown - not much lighter than Sierra Nevada Stout, actually - thin, off-white head, leaves streaks and spots of lacing

Smell: More interesting than the average porter - cooked, toasted, and roasted malts - some chocolate, and coffee - some citrus in here, too, mostly floral orange

Taste: Toasted, roasted malts, toffee, coffee, and chocolate, all in a nice balance - bitterness is mild - some citrus touches, floral and fleshy, adds some balance - slightly sweet, but not too much

Mouthfeel: Medium body, adequately carbonated, very smooth and very drinkable

Overall: I would say this is surprisingly good, but it's Sierra Nevada, so I guess I should have suspected it

I've had so many mediocre porters over the years. And to think, all this time, Sierra Nevada Porter has just been sitting on the shelf, readily available. This is not going to blow any minds, but it's the definition of solid. If more porters were more like this, I bet the style would be more popular.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2012 06:18:23 | More by angrybabboon

LXIXME

New Mexico

4.35/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from above the glass gives this porter a big rich light brown head that has some pretty good staying power above a dark brown colored beer with some reddish color coming through.

A light roasted caramel to or maybe with molasses in the aroma on this medium to full bodied beer.

A great full mouth feel and rich roasted caramel malt taste with some light molasses notes coming through.

A rich slightly dry aftertaste on this beer.

Good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2012 16:40:46 | More by LXIXME

obrike

Texas

4.05/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bought a 6pack at my local Round Rock Specs for 7.99.

I don't believe I've had this before...trying to think back a few years and just can't remember trying it. So here goes.

Pours a very dark brown with decent tan head that fades to a film on the top of the beer. Some red tinge in it as well when held to the light. Nice lacing on this one.

Getting a nice scent of dark roasted malt, caramel, and sugary spice...maybe cinnamon? I like.

Dark roasted malt dominates along with toffee. Some hop bitterness on the palate after each sip too. Very good. Perfect amount of carbonation and a smooth aftertaste makes this on a very easy to drink and quite sessionable porter.

Pretty impressive...sorry I waited so long to try it.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2012 02:16:47 | More by obrike

12stepCornelius

4.93/5  rDev +25.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I tried this beer after making a create-your-own variety six pack at my local market. I served this from a 12 oz. bottle into a pub-style standard beer glass and just got done drinking it.

The appearance of it was dark, almost completely black. The head was a very deep tan almost beige color, about 2 1/2 fingers and was very creamy. The head dissipated after a bit, but mostly stuck around at 1/2 a finger, leaving lacing at the beer diminished.

The smell was straight up coffee, malts, and toffee for me. With a good bit of roastiness that was oh so present. I was very impressed with how accurate the smell was to the description of the ingredients used and was surprised by how pleasant it was.

This has to be one of the most flavorful beers I've ever had. I'm new to trying different beers having recently turned 21 and the taste of this just about blew my socks off. Coffee, cream, toffee, and dark roasted malts. Man it hit the spot. I'm a fan of the darker beers like Guinness and whatnot so this was right up my alley. The finish is that of a deep, bold bitterness that warms your throat and leaves a slightly smoky taste in your mouth. Somewhat sweet but not too much at all.

The mouthfeel was very smooth and also creamy. It has a bit of carbonation at the back of the sip, but otherwise this is a fairly flat beer if you were to compare it with a lager. Very nice.

Overall this has now got to be one of my top five beers. Something I will come back to every so often and savor again. I will reiterate in saying that I just turned 21, so my experience with different beers is lacking so others might know of better porters than this. I've tried the Anchor Porter as well and while that one was good, SN's porter brought more to the table in terms of what I expected a good porter to taste like. I'm used to Keystone and Bud Light, so this is shaping up to be a very interesting brew exploration experience for me to say the least.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2012 22:42:25 | More by 12stepCornelius

BierStein711

Illinois

2.9/5  rDev -26.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Bottle poured into shaker pint, no freshness date

three finger off white head

This was not what I was expecting. I was hoping for a bitter porter, rather than a semi-sweet one. Four finger white head when poured correctly which leaves elegant lacing. The beer tastes of the two-row malt, and chocolate. I would call this an ok beer from an outstanding brewery.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2012 02:35:58 | More by BierStein711

acevenom

Louisiana

4.18/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a glass mug. Pours deep bround with an abundant, rich tan head that dissipates, leaving some sticky lacing on the side of the glass. The smell is of dark roasted malt, chocolate, and some hops. The flavor is quite robust and bittersweet. The flavors of dark roasted malt, chocolate, and hops are well-balanced. The body is medium and very smooth. The carbonation is not strong, which helps the smoothness of this beer. It's very drinkable. Overall, this is an excellent and enjoyable porter that I could easily session.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2012 00:34:35 | More by acevenom

mullincs

Tennessee

4.38/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a chilled pint glass.

Appearance - Creates a nice dark tone with a thick foamy head that is slow to dissipate.

Smell - Hints of malts, along with a faint trace of cocoa and some smokiness.

Taste - Nice amount of malts balanced with a very few hops. Has a good flavor characterized by chocolate and a slightly burnt taste.

Mouthfeel - Extremely smooth beer that urges you to slow down and enjoy it. Lightly carbonated with the deep, thick feel of a porter.

Overall - Easily one of my favorite beers, especially considering its availability and price. A perfect beer to sip on in the evening.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2012 02:08:19 | More by mullincs

vette2006c5r

Wisconsin

4.55/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Porter pours a very dark color, with a nice tan head. There is a nice strong nutty smell, with hints of choclate, on a smokey malty backbone. The taste has a nice sweet taste, full of nut, and cholcate flavors, then finishes bitter, with just a tad of a hoppy taste, and coffee flavors. Nice complex flavor, but very full, and easy to drink. Overall this is a fantastic porter, one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 02:23:58 | More by vette2006c5r

rangerred

Tennessee

4.05/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a very dark brown with a light tan, two finger head. Awesome lacing.

Aroma is full of roasted malt with cocoa and coffee. Some citrus hops come through as well.

The taste has lots of roasted malt with some bitterness associated with it. Coffee and chocolate are present in just the right amounts as well as some citrus hops. A silky mouthfeel brings it all together and the beer finishes with a light, lingering bitterness.

Overall this is an awesome porter. One of the best readily available ones out there.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 00:59:38 | More by rangerred

blindpiglet

3.9/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep dark brown color with small size tan head. Aroma has notes of roasted barley, chocolate, and a touch of caramel. Taste is of roasted malts, coffee, and piney, spicy hops. Mouthfeel is medium and smooth. Overall drinkability is good and an enjoyable porter.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2012 23:12:46 | More by blindpiglet

cadavid4j

4.13/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a pint glass this is a wonderful looking beer. It pours black with a thick head that doesn't dissipate quickly. The smell may be my favorite thing about this beer. It smells roasted and chocolatey. The taste is exactly as a porter should be. Definitely a high quality brew from Sierra Nevada. I highly recommend this one.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2012 05:11:52 | More by cadavid4j

jojoluvsbeer

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

Pours black with some ruby highlights, a moderate sized tan colored head and good lacing. Aroma is chocolate and coffee roast and a bit of dark fruits. Taste starts out with a some caramel sweetness followed by roasted malt with a coffee like bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2012 16:19:35 | More by jojoluvsbeer

StonedTrippin

Colorado

4.15/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

an excellent porter. robust, dark, and drinkable. pours a nearly black chocolate color with a tall and frothy off white head. smells richly roasted, hints of coffee and cocoa. flavor is great, really nice malt complexity and smoothness. the feel is exceptional as well, perfectly carbonated, highly sessionable. a dark beer with a full body that isnt filling in any way. i enjoyed this with a maple mango glazed mahi mahi on the grill, and it stood up well the smokeyness of the fish, but wasnt overpoweringly roasty to wash out the subtleties of the food. everything a good porter should be.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2012 20:20:26 | More by StonedTrippin

BrownNut

Florida

4.3/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served cool in a nonic pint.

A - Not as dark as I was expecting. A red-brown you can see through. Lovely head that lingers a while.

S - Malty. A little sweet. Hint of ash. Barest hint of coffee. On a later tasting, I swear this smells like a mix between Sugar Smacks cereal and Honey Nut Cheerios but more malty than both. Smells fantastic.

T - A bit of ash, in a good way, which borders on dark chocolate. Mild. The ash is subtly present on the exhale. Just delicious.

M - Soft without viscosity.

O - Very pleasant. It's pretty mild and sessionable but the hint of ash gives it some nice character. And it's otherwise rich and delicious. Comes across as their stout pulled back a bit on the ash. These guys show up to work and casually turn out solid artistry. No frills, just solid craft that lets you know they know what they're doing to a serious depth.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2012 00:08:27 | More by BrownNut

sevenarts

New York

3.33/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A: Dark brown, with some reddish accents in the light. Creamy tan head, moderate lacing.

S: Lots of sweet, subtle roasted malty flavors: coffee, chocolate, vanilla, caramel.

T/M: Malty and sweet, with chocolate, coffee, vanilla, toffee, some roasted smoky flavors, just a touch of hoppy bitterness. Mouthfeel is a little thin and watery.

O: A decent, enjoyable porter. The flavors are subtle and well-balanced, and it doesn't blow me away, but it's good all around.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2012 22:19:33 | More by sevenarts

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.78/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into pint glass

Appearance – Pours a nice deep brown color with a billowy off white head. The head had decent retention and gave way to a moderate level of lacing.

Smell – Aromas of caramel and toffee with bit of roasted malt are in the nose. They together create a nice sweet aroma.

Taste – Sweeter flavors of toffee meets the tongue. There is a nice roasty and bready taste that is mixed with the sweeter flavors. These flavors lighten a bit as the taste advances and an ever so light hop flavor comes into play, which bitters the taste a bit toward the end.

Mouthfeel – The body is a little above average in terms of thickness and the carbonation level is just below normal. For the most part quite average for the style.

Overall – An overall enjoyable brew that is affordable and pretty east to drink.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2012 01:50:44 | More by Darkmagus82

greybeardloon

Rhode Island

3.98/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Bottled January 18, 2012

A: Fluffy head with great retention and chunky lacing.

S: Roasted malt and metallic hops. The nose is pretty subdued.

T: Roasted malt, caramel sweetness anda touch of char, some vanilla-like creaminess or roundness to the flavor. Earthy hops. Some hop bitterness on the finish. Very balanced.

M: Medium, or perhaps a bit light, for the style. A bit too bubbly.

O: A solid, easy drinking porter. Not competition for Smuttynose, but still solid.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2012 16:42:47 | More by greybeardloon