Gandy Dancer Porter - Potosi Brewing Company

TMoney2591

Illinois

2.89/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

Served in a Lagunitas mason jar.

My second beer of this title, making my list just a bit more train-oriented than before. Sheldon would be pleased. Anyway, this stuff pours a dark black-brown topped by a finger of khaki foam. The nose comprises blackened pretzel (complete with a light coating of milk chocolate) and mild toast. The taste holds notes of rather mild roasted malts, toast, and very light chocolate powder. It all comes together in a strangely perfume-y aftertaste. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fluid feel. Overall, a pretty mediocre and forgettable porter.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 20:01:39 | More by TMoney2591

johnkale

Wisconsin

3.3/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into a Sam Adams pint

A - pours a deep, deep red/brown (like cola but more opaque) with two fingers of rocky, off-white head that dissipates in a matter of minutes

S - big loads of toffee upfront with some complimentary raisin, tobacco, dark coffee. just the barest bit of nuttiness in there too

T - very sweet, toffee and raisins, smoky/roasty notes, a little bit of alcohol bite, some earthy hops in there too. good, but a little less residual sugar might have been nice

M - a little over-carbonated, lighter in body than the sweetness would imply

O - good flavors going on but definitely too sweet for the body. Personally would have preferred a more roasty quality. I braised some lamb shanks in it a couple of nights ago and reduced the braising liquid for sauce, which work out very nicely with this, so at least it holds up in the kitchen.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2012 01:45:32 | More by johnkale

mdfb79

New York

3.63/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into my BYG 2012 Super Bowl Champions pint glass, drinking while watching the Bengals embarass the Giants. Thanks to Ian and Emma for giving me this in Wisconsin last weekend.

a - Pours a very dark brown color with the smallest bit of a reddish tint, two inches of medium tan head that leaves quickly, and low to moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells of roasted malts, milk chocolate, coffee, toasted malts, light nuts, and some cream and vanilla. Very nice nose....more coffee as it warms up.

t - Tastes of roasted malts, coffee, toasted malts, some light cream, and light bitter chocolate. Nice, but not quite as nice as the nose. Less chocolate and sweetness. Maybe a tiny bit of anise as well.

m - Medium body and moderate to high carbonation. Little less carbonation would be nice but otherwise pretty easy to drink.

o - Overall a pretty decent porter. I really liked the nose and it is easy to drink. The taste has less chocolate and a little more bitterness and anise, but it's a solid porter worth checking out. Would try it again.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2012 19:01:47 | More by mdfb79

cagocubs

Illinois

3.83/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle into pint glass.

A: Pours brown but gains opaque tint when completely poured. A thin fuzzy head bubbles out quickly leaving a splotch in the middle.

S: Some sweet caramel malt, licorice, roasted malt, barley, and a little dark fruit sweetness.

T: The scent characteristics come full circle in the taste. Has a roasted malt complex that gains sweet caramel malt. The aftertaste is roasted, yet crisp and sweet.

M: Easy drinking porter with a lighter body than other examples. Good carbonation and mouth coating.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2012 03:06:16 | More by cagocubs

crewfan16

Minnesota

2.85/5  rDev -21.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

poured from bottle to an imperial sam adams glass.

a- pours ruby dark brown with enough light to be able to see through it. half inch of head fades quickly with almost no lacing

s- bready doughy malt and some nutty character. slight caramel sweetness. sort of underwhelming

t- again with the biscuit maltiness and slight nutty flavors - toasted almond maybe. some more roasted charred malt on the finish with a little hop bitterness

m- creamy enough mouthfeel but sort of thin overall

overall, a slightly below average porter. just sort of light on all accounts. I am really trying to find something i really love from potosi, but they are just sort of underwhelming.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2011 04:01:14 | More by crewfan16

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

3.7/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Transferred over from my tasting notebook.

Looks really almost black except for when I shine a flashlight on it and the edges turn deep brown. 1/4 of a finger of tan head that vanishes in 20 seconds, no lacing left behind but it has a nice texture in my mouth I usually only feel in milk stouts. Smells like a mixture of coffee, sweet malt, and vague impressions of a light hop spicing. Tastes more like a mixture of roasted malt, and toasted nuts than coffee to me, although it has some hints of the spicing components of a chai latte without the dairy or the coffee elements. The malts taste kind of musty....maybe about 20% oxidized? Because of this, I suspect that I may have had an older bottle, since I am also not picking up on certain layers of complexity that other BAs before me have... I'll update this one if I find myself with another bottle in my possession in the future.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2011 03:23:26 | More by WastingFreetime

Jason

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

Tiny bubbled tan lace holds strong, nearly full on black some brown edges to this beer. Sweet malty aroma, some toffee then things go roasty. Silky smooth with some buttery caramel flavors up front. Very modest hopping though a mild roasted grain edge helps to balance the sweetness out a bit. Mocha? Some warming alcohol i the end, not much else to this beer other than the toffee sweetness and some roasted grain flavor. Decent ...

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2011 01:45:14 | More by Jason

Schmittymack

Colorado

3.9/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a twelve ounce bottle into that damn ol' trusy shaker glass. Poured a dark black--darker than a lot o' porters I've sampled. No head but a bit of lacing that lingers on the sides of the glass. Aroma of coffee and sweet malt. Taste is sweet malt, coffee, and no hop bitterness. A solid brew that I'd love to try from the source on tap.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2011 10:08:40 | More by Schmittymack

mynie

Indiana

4.03/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap, exceedingly fresh, at the brewery.

Awfully dark for a medium strength porter. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's actually pretty damn pretty.

Smells like coffee, dry hops, and dark roasted barley. More like a dry stout than a porter--there's not much rough porteriness, nor any sour nodes.

Tastes like it smells, like a solidly above average dry stout. Coffee moving into smooth, bitter barley, ending on light nodes of dry hops and black chocolate. Kind of sweet for the style (honestly, I never would have pegged this for a porter were not labeled as such), but a tasty, solidly brewed beer.

Serving type: on-tap

03-18-2011 23:54:46 | More by mynie

Soneast

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a dark brown, almost black color. When held to a light it showcase a very clear beverage, with amber to copper edges. Grows a half-inch thick, light brown colored head, that dissipates rather quickly to a thin sudsy layer.

The aroma showcases some nice malt character, roasty with some mild chocolate and fudge notes and burnt caramel a nice toast character that brings some nutty aromatics to the beer.

The flavor starts out pretty decent, it basically tastes like a chewy fudge brownie, with some definite dark chocolate character coming through, the roastiness is pretty tame, it finishes like a brownie too, fudgey and sweet. This beer probably could have actually used a bit more roasted barley to tame the sweetness on the back end.

The beer itself is medium bodied, but the cloying sweetness on the finish makes it feel thick and syrupy. I think this could have been a great porter rather than an merely average one had they just upped the hop content a bit more, or maybe added a bit more roast character to the beer which would add some bitterness as well. As is, this beer drinks more like a sweet stout.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2011 00:16:57 | More by Soneast

BieresDesMoines

Iowa

4.43/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a deep brown almost black with a big head. The aroma is lots of chocolate, mild hops with some earthy and floral character in there as well. The flavor is fruity, not in an overbearing way... or even a dominant way, but it's the first thing that hits you when you taste it. There is plenty of roasty coffee and a lot of nice hop bitterness. There is a mild smokiness to the beer as well. Overall this was the best beer I had on Saturday. This is a world class porter and a crown jewel in the lineup of a very new, but very welcome addition to the Southwest WI brewing scene.

Serving type: on-tap

12-20-2010 18:22:32 | More by BieresDesMoines

emerge077

Illinois

4/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A solid above average American Porter from this brewery. The best offering from them i've had thus far, better than "Good Ol' Potosi" and "Pure Malt Cave Ale" for sure, and better than their IPA possibly.

Light like a Munich Dunkel, but with the flavor profile of a Porter. Russet brown with a hint of crimson in the light. Wispy skim and a solid ring around the edges. A solitary arc of dripping lace accentuates the side of the glass.

Brown sugar sweetness and husky toasted malts in the nose. Very soft feel, some clove phenolics and creamy chocolate. Low level bitterness, i'd hesitate to associate it with any hop content, almost a simple byproduct of the mild roasty element. Seems more like a lager in feel, though it's medium bodied. Perfect cold weather brew. Would buy again.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 04:07:17 | More by emerge077

Duff27

Illinois

3.95/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

A- Pours dark brown bordering black to my eyes (I only see the 8 original Crayola crayon colors though) with a half-inch light mocha color into my pint glass. Abundant lacing.

S- Smells chocolatey. Vanilla.

T- Roasted malts. Hint of vanilla. Chocolate on the tail end.

M- Smooth. Carbonated well...better than well.

D/O- Not a bad little porter from Potosi. Don't know how many I'd want to have in one sitting but I enjoyed it.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2010 03:56:27 | More by Duff27

JoeyBeerBelly

New York

3.43/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I got this beer as an extra in a trade with KeefD. Thanks Keith!

12oz bottle served in a glass beer mug.

L - dark brown color with a beige head that left a good amount of lacing.

S - vanilla extract and roasted malts.

T - upfront vanilla extract taste followed with roasted malts finishing on the sweeter side.

F - light/medium bodied with a creamy feel.

D - it's ok.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2010 01:10:32 | More by JoeyBeerBelly

cokes

Wisconsin

3.73/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Dark, barely translucent, mahogany brown topped with a low tan head. It migrates to the edges of the glass and proceeds to leave gobs of lace.
The aroma is sweet bringing caramel, chocolate, hazelnuts, and toast. The nose isn't loud, but it nice enough.
It carries a pronounced sweetness through the mouth, noting caramel, milk chocolate, and cake batter as it gets doughier through the middle, bringing along an odd note of corn syrup. A low-level toasty/roasty component provides offsetting bitterness, with vague anise qualities. Chocolate-dusted hazelnuts pop up late, as the sweetness wins out. It rides out with more caramel, with a cameo from earthy hops.
A deceptive medium build, pushed lighter with the steady, moderate carbonation. While sweet, it never approaches cloying. The balancing traits are subtle, but sufficient. As such, it brings a good deal of drinkability.

As a note, I've listed this as an American Porter, as Potosi's website alludes to that being the intent here with: "A bit bigger, hoppier, and or roastier than their European predecessors". I don't entirely agree with their description and tasting notes (I wish it had more of these things) and I find it a better example of an English Porter.
Splitting hairs a bit now, and I'll stop. It's a little quirky sweet, but I generally like it.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2010 06:03:00 | More by cokes

bashiba

Iowa

3.8/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a nice deep dark brown with some mahogany highlights, a bit of thick tan head.

The smell was light and smoky with a touch of malty sweetness.

The Flavor was mild and well balanced with a bit of smoke, chocolate, and mild bit of toasted grain with a light bit of earthy hops in the finish.

The mouthfeel was smooth and creamy.

Nicely done Porter.

Serving type: on-tap

03-28-2010 23:36:37 | More by bashiba