José Martí American Porter - Cigar City Brewing

AltBock

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I found this unreviewed winner in my phone. On tap at Cigar City on November 21, 2012. I decided to take this one with me in a growler. Out of the growler and into an imperial pint glass.

It appears to pour a solid midnight black, but a closer look led me to believe that it's more of a deep dark cola brown color. On top was a dark tan 3/4 to 1 inch head of foam. It had good retention that left behind a thin tan film and huge number of streaks and spots of lace.

The strong scent of roasted coffee beans was just pouring out off this beer. I didn't even need to stick my nose in to the glass to get this fine roasted coffee aroma. Behind the coffee was some dark roasted malt, dark chocolate, and a subtle splash of sweet caramel. If its swirled around, a dark fruit or two will emerge. Nice and roasted!

Unlike the aroma, the taste was equally balanced between all the dark roasted flavors. The first roasted flavor that's up to bat is the dark roasted malt. That's followed by the roasted coffee beans, and then the dark chocolate. After all the roasted tastes had their turn in the spotlight, the beer then finishes up with subtle caramel sweetness and a fine roasted hop bitterness. Great roasted Porter!

The mouthfeel was medium bodied with a nice thick long lasting roasted aftertaste. You get more roasted coffee, malt, and dark chocolate in the aftertaste. You'd think the same tastes over and over again would get boring, but they didn't. It will take more than one glass of water to cleanse your mouth of this roasted aftertaste.

I didn't have high hopes for this beer, but Cigar City smashed that! This is a fine roasted Porter from Cigar City. I would definitely buy this again. Another winner from Cigar City. 

Serving type: growler

01-13-2013 21:35:09 | More by AltBock

Spider889

Ohio

3.43/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Brought a 32oz growler back from FL and drank it in July, also sampled a bottle tonight (Dec).

I have averaged the scores since the option to review multiple serving types is about to be sacked. Given my notes, there is a definite difference between the two samplings.

Growler (3 day old growler consumed 7/19/11):
A - Black with decent thickness for a porter. Tall sandy head, excellent lace. (4.5)

S - Green hops and a dry light dusting of some phenols. Bitter roast with a mild sweetness to it. (3.5)

T - Sweet, mild bakers chocolate. Quite hoppy with nice bitterness in the form of pine and some citrus. (4)

M - Very dry, moderate carbonation. (3)

O - Not bad at all. A nice take on an "India Porter." A bit sweet for the style, but I liked this as a balance to all of the hops. (3.5)
____

Bottle (stamped on the label is NOV 2011 EIGHT):
A - Seemed much less carbonated. Barely any head, no lace. (3)

S - Not phenolic at all, which allows more of the roast and chocolate to shine. Hops aren't as green. (4)

T - The hops are coming through as very bitter and provide a minty quality that I am finding more and more distracting. (3)

M - The "mintiness" and the alcohol are tickling/warming the back of my throat as if I chewed up a mint and then took a sip of cool water. Not entirely unpleasant, but worse off than the growler I had. Sticky, lingering palate coating effect. The first time I had this beer (growler) I never even noticed the abv, and thus never would have guessed this beer was 8%. This time I have no struggle in believing it. (2)

O - Still a solid beer, but fresh from the source on tap has got to be the way to go here. Also, who knows what type of batch variation a brewery like CCB sees? (3)

Serving type: growler

12-26-2011 08:34:42 | More by Spider889

Ryan011235

Ohio

3.95/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Growler poured into an Ommegang flute on 7/19/11

Shared by Spider889

Dark brown; looks a lot like coffee. One thumb cap of foam. Retention is thinner but leaves pretty good lace.

Aroma is rather hoppy. Floral with notes of pine and, to a lesser extent, citrus. Roasty grains sit underneath; tangy chocolate. Overtones of smoke as it warms. Tastes similar but the hops are better handled by the malts. Bitterness is moderate throughout. Very, very grainy. Modest roasted notes. Sweet-bittersweet chocolate. Simple but tastes just fine. Finishes on the dry side. Medium-full body. Kind of slick but not boozy. Starts smooth then turns toward rolling granular fluffiness.

Overall impression: I can dig it. A very solid hoppy porter. Certainly worth a shot.

Serving type: growler

07-21-2011 03:39:57 | More by Ryan011235

MbpBugeye

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Growler brought up to share by Spider889.

Appearance
This is a good looking beer. A nice, tall tan head throws superb lacing in precise rings. The beer looks nice and black, but ultimately it is edged in red.

Aroma
Very hoppy. The fresh, green hoppiness is broken up by roasted malts. Accents of black pepper, coffee and cocoa are interspersed.

Taste
Very hoppy and green. So much pine its like a fresh pine sapling. Plenty of roastiness too. The hops and malts come together in the middle to create a chocolate and orange sweetness. The finish is more resinous, oily pine.

Mouthfeel
The carbonation is nice, its very active, but very soft and fluffy. The beer is thickened by massive amounts of oily, resinous piney hops. The finish is dry and cocoa powdery.

Overall
A really good beer. This is probably the best India, or hoppy porters I've had.

Serving type: growler

07-20-2011 15:39:23 | More by MbpBugeye

Gmann

New York

4.05/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a near black color with a short yet dense khaki colored head that settles into a small ring. Just has a solid look to it.

The aroma is a nice mix between a bready malt and citrus hops. Both aspects not too distinguishable. There seems to be some coffee/chocolate notes from the malt and there is an overall fruitiness from the hops.

The taste is mostly malt. Toasted brown bread, slight roast with a dash of bitter coffee. Hints of caramel adds some sweetness. There is noticable hop presence that adds some citrus flavors but it takes a back seat to the malt.

Moderate to full feel with semi-soft carbonation. Some roasted bitterness in the finish as well as some stickiness.

This is a fine porter. It sides on robust and just has a nice depth to it. I like that you can taste a hop presence without it taking away from the malt. A very good base porter for CCB to work their magic with.

Serving type: growler

03-03-2011 05:16:00 | More by Gmann

socon67

New York

3.73/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A -Pours black and light carbonation. slight lacing in glass.

S - Smells of raosted malt, chocolate, and coffee. Solid but not particularly standout.

T - Taste is similar to the smell. Sweet roasted malt and chocolate gives way to the bitterness of coffee. My issue is that it isn't as potent as other in the style.

M - Comes off as diluted/weak. Not bad but could easily be better.

D - Is a solid porter. Coudl drink a few of these.

Not bad, just that CCb has much better offerings.

Serving type: growler

03-03-2011 01:47:36 | More by socon67

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.13/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Filled Last night; Sampled January 2011
A vigorous pour into my CCB tulip produces a three-finger thick, lightly browned, stained tan colored head that leaves some light lacing on the sides of my glass as I work my way through it. The beer is a concentrated brown that looks a lot like dark chocolate; when held up to the light the beer shows a deep, concentrated ruby color. The beer smells of lightly herbal hops and dark, toasted malt up front. The toasted grain character gets bigger towards the finish and makes me think of a dense, darkly browned, whole grain bread crust. There is a subtle berry like fruitiness to this beer that is at times drowned out by the toasted malt character. The malt aromatics on this beer are huge, at times they drown out all the other aromatic notes found in this beer, but at other times I am actually able to get notes of orange zest, tangelo peel and even a hint of something like kumquat. I wasn't expecting the hop character in this beer for some reason, it is dominated by a hugely aromatic malt character that isn't really roasted, but definitely dark leaning; the hop character does add a nice layer to the nose though.

Bitter hops up front are tempered a bit by a dry, crystal malt sweetness (if that makes any sense) and the beer has a viscousness to it and caramel quality as it sits on the tongue. As the beer slides down my throat the ample hop character comes through in spades by contributing flavors of Curacao orange zest, bright tangelo and kumquat peel as well as an herbal and pine like hop character that is a bit secondary to the fruity hop notes (almost the reverse of the nose). The dark malt and the hop citrus notes really make me think of an orange-oil infused dark chocolate. The finish has a touch of roasted grain burnt notes that has a touch of burnt bitterness to it, but really gets subsumed by the herbaceous hop character of the finish. There are times that this beer can get a bit harsh in the finish; the roast grain mixes with a green, astringent hop character that almost tastes like burnt toothpaste, luckily this isn't quite so evocative after most sips of this brew.

I am definitely digging the dark beer focus of this brewery, somehow there does seem to be dearth of these around, especially one that executes this well. I really like a well made Brown Ale and this is the second I have had from this brewery and I am looking forward to others. Despite the harsh at times hop flavors this is a beer I am definitely going to enjoy finishing my cute half growler of it.

Serving type: growler

01-31-2011 14:44:37 | More by Gueuzedude

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

32 oz growler into in a pint glass. Thanks go to Jw347 for this in a recent trade.

Pours black in the glass, with 2 stiff fingers of mocha colored head. This retains with a rigid ½ finger of rich creamy froth that just drenches the sides of the glass with lacing that sticks to the sides in heavy swathes. The aroma is fresh and flora feeling up front, with a bit of a spicy wet tobacco leaf thing going on with it. Smooth notes of chocolate and roasted coffee rise up underneath but it's those notes of herbs and tobacco that are really sticking with me.

Hops prickle the tongue up front in the taste, with green citrus and biting spiciness spreading out into the mouth. A thick layer of chocolate and some lesser caramel flavor envelops those hops and leaving a good bit of heavy sweetness behind but it is well balanced by the deep burnt bitterness of the roasted malts. Same as the nose, I'm also picking up that herbal and dank leathery tobacco presence, which mingles in the finish with lingering charred smoke from the roast and the dry spiciness of the hops. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied, with a sharp feel up front that prickles the tip of the tongue but then gets more slick and creamy as this moves out into the rest of the mouth. I'm getting no alcohol except some heft in the body for 8% and it actually blew my mind that the ABV was that high although I did have a sneaking suspicion after starting to feel it once I got into a couple of glasses of this.

I really enjoyed this! A solid hop presence, dark sticky sweetness, and that aforementioned tobacco flavor all combined to make this quite the complex and tasty take on a Porter. The body on this was just spot for all of that heavy feeling sweetness and I still can't believe that this was 8%. It drank like a champ! This is definitely of the better Cigar City offerings that I've had recently.

Serving type: growler

11-16-2010 17:50:16 | More by Kegatron

jsanford

Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Just got this filled at the brewery on 9/1/10. Poured into my Stone IRS tulip.

A - Pours a dark-as-possible-without-being-black brown with a 1-finger, creamy ivory head that never fully dissipates. Nice lacing left on the glass.

S - Everything about this screams "porter", but in a really well-done way. Dark roasted malt, sweet coffee, milk chocolate and a slight hint of dark berries, perhaps blackberries.

T - Oh man. Super "roasty", right on course with the nose. Chocolate is really jumping out at me. Very well-balanced.

M - Medium bodied, extremely creamy. Carbonation is nice and prickly.

D - Like all CC brews, this one is incredibly drinkable and potentially dangerous at 8% ABV.

Easily one of the best Porters I've ever had, but given Cigar City's track record this comes as no surprise. They're doing some great thing down there in Tampa!

Serving type: growler

09-05-2010 05:34:53 | More by jsanford

Vonerichs

Illinois

4.21/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Dark brown with a reddish surface hue. Minimal carbonation.

Dark roast coffee, chocolate, and piney and earth hop aromas.

True to word, it's a hoppy porter. The chocolate and roast are the dominating flavors with a hefty dose of pine. The finish is a brown leafy taste.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium with good carbonation. It's just a little chalky.

It's a very nice hoppy porter. The hops didn't overtake the roast characteristics and it is still recognizable as a porter.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 23:44:00 | More by Vonerichs

SSEngelbrecht

Louisiana

4.35/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a standard pint glass.

This pours super dark brown with a light tan head that fades quickly. Bits of lacing remain on the glass as it is emptied, not heavy.

The smell of this beer is amazing. It has roasted malt, caramel, brown sugar, smoke and molasses very prominently.

The taste is quite smoky and tangy at first with a burnt smoky finish and bitter hop after taste. I really didn't know what to make of it. As it came up to room temperature, the flavors really bloomed. The complex roasted malts and caramel, the hoppy bitterness, the smokiness that were all present in the aroma came out fully.

I also picked up flavors of dark fruit, earthy leather, cocoa and tobacco that I found pleasant.

Overall, this is a really complex porter that stands out among those I've tried. I think its better as it warms to 65-70 degrees. The smoke is heavy on this one and the aftertaste is really strong

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 01:08:38 | More by SSEngelbrecht

Bosoxfan20

Oklahoma

4.45/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A- Poured into a Cigar City sniffer glass (yeah, kinda nerdy but it seemed right). Near black with deep mohogany accents and a 1.5 finger tan head. Solid retention as a cake of creamy head remained on top all the way to finish. Very nice lacing. Not sure why this porter seems to receive such average appearance ratings. It's a mean looking porter.

S- Big chocolate, toffee, mocha, and roasted malt notes. Chalky, earthyness also comes through with coffee on the back end. Similar to Maduro, but more intense.

T- Just like the nose indicates, but the hops step up to the plate a little more here. Just the way I like my porter...Lots of chocolate, caramel, and hop bitterness to finish it off. Bitter and dry.

M- Full flavored, mid body. Avg drinkability, but a wonder creamy feel. At 8%, it lets you know what you are getting yourself into without taking over the palate.

O- Certainly an american style porter with the hop presence. Love the balance and complexity. Maybe not for those that prefer the English style porters with lower IBUs, but damn, it's so good. Right there with COOP Gran Sport as my favorite porters.

No bottled on date that I could find
$7.49 for a 4 pk

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 17:03:03 | More by Bosoxfan20

ffOpusx

California

3.88/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Got this via trade!

S - roasted malt, chocolate and some hops

A - dark brown color with a brown head little lacing

T - roasted malt comes through with chocolate flavors, nicely hopped

M - Nice full body

O - This is a good beer easy drinking, will enjoy the rest of it!

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 18:49:42 | More by ffOpusx

OBeerMeGreatOne

California

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours out deep brown, almost black, solid tan head, moderate lace.

Roasted chocolate, earth and heavy citrus make up most of the smell.

Chocolate, roasted malts and lemon rind start this off. Wood and earth follow, with a nice roasted, grassy finish. Does down thick and smooth.

Very nice, heavily hopped porter. Would certainly grab another if given a chance.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 21:47:19 | More by OBeerMeGreatOne

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.19/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

This poured out as a nice deep brown color with a moderate tan head on top. The retention and lacing are very good on this beer. The smell of the beer is robust and hoppy. The taste is bitter, plenty of piney hops in there with a chocolatey roast flavors in the finish. The mouthfeel is smooth and dry, nice bitterness also. Overall this beer is basically a Black IPA but very good regardless.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 02:36:39 | More by Knapp85

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

4.2/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Bottle from Total Wine in Tampa. From notes.

A - Poured black with a two finger brown head that was thick and creamy. Good carbonaiton coming up. Great lace rings and a film of retention.

S - Yup this was robustly hopped. Vanilla, cocoa beans, coffee bean fruits?

T - Nice hop profile. Nice and roasty, citrus and lot's of sweet malt. Some dark fruit, roast, and light coffee.

M - Good carbonation, medium body, dry and slighty bitter finish. Lacking a little body.

O/D - Complex and very drinkable. A tasty, hoppy porter. Pleaseure to sip and the 8% is well masked.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 19:41:46 | More by tbeckett

stephenjmoore

Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A- Very dark brown body that lets no light through. Frothy mocha-colored head that stays around and leaves an absolute mess of sticky lacing all over the glass.

S- Lots of roasty malt, hints of bitter coffee, an earthy/herbal hop aroma, some grainy bread aromas.

T- Leads off with lots of roasted malt flavor, with the hops coming through in the middle. The earthy and herbal flavors come through along with a hint of pine. The finish is roasty with lots of bitterness.

M- Comes through full at the beginning with medium carbonation. The middle has a slight carbonation tingle and the finish is dry.

O- This is a great porter with big flavors. The hops and roasty malts compliment each other very nicely.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2013 15:58:47 | More by stephenjmoore

mattsdenney

Tennessee

3.73/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Always good to try another Cigar City offering.

Pours dark brown with a thin, quickly receding head. Typical porter look but I wouldn't describe it as robust. Smells more of dried fruit than your typical porter. Some hints of chocolate, cherries, malt, and a little smokiness. Taste is interesting, bittersweet chocolate and heavy on the dried fruits. Finishes with smoke, charcoal, and raisin. Nice flavor but definitely not a classic porter in the sense. Mouthfeel is thin and light bodied, very little carbonation. Soft on the palate. Overall another excellent CCB offering. I love everything this brewery produces and this one is no exception.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 02:28:15 | More by mattsdenney

rudzud

Massachusetts

3.84/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Received as an extra in a trade and poured into my Duvel tulip.

A - Pours a nice deep brownish black hue with a one finger mocha head that fades to leave a thin thin cloud and light halo.

S - Aromas of nice roast malts and chocolate. Good bitterness too thanks to some hops. Light citrus too.

T - More of the heavy roast, nice chocolate and coffee grounds. Very lingering burnt/biter finish. Like a much more roasty, less hoppy black IPA.Dont get me wrong, theres a good amount of hop bitterness and faint citrus, but it just comes across like a weak black IPA.

M - Mouthfeel was a bit on the astringent side with a dry finish. Fairly solid.

O - Overall, not a bad porter, just wish the flavors were a bit more well rounded with each other.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2013 04:24:40 | More by rudzud

bsp77

Minnesota

3.78/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into wine glass.

Appearance: Very dark chocolate with moderate tan head.

Smell: Heavily roasted aroma with chocolate and coffee. Some bitter notes, with a hint of citrus.

Taste: Strong roasted backbone, with chocolate, coffee, char and burnt molasses. The hops are a mix of citrusy, floral and spicy notes. Finish is somewhat bitter, partially from the hops, but mostly from the slightly distracting burnt character.

Feel: Medium to full body that is fairly creamy with a nice dry finish. Carbonation is in check.

Overall: This is more-than-solid hoppy strong porter. Too bad the burnt notes take away from the hops and the core complexity of the roasted malts.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2013 16:19:57 | More by bsp77

chinchill

South Carolina

3.7/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

12 oz bottle served in a Unibroue snifter. Vigorous pour only yields a modest light tan head that dies down quickly. Decent lacing on the glass. Clear but very dark brown and essentially opaque in the glass.

Rich, complex aroma has dark chocolate notes over plenty of roasted malt and a suggestion of coffee grinds. A bit of piney/herbal hops lie in the background. The flavor displays a more intense roasted malt character, but the chocolate and hops have faded quite a bit. Some coffee in the mildly bitter and long-lasting aftertaste. Mildly marred by a bit too much burnt quality.

Mouthfeel: near full body with moderate carbonation levels. Slightly astringent up front and dry in the finish.

Overall: a very rich porter appropriately described as a "robustly hopped American porter" and properly classified as an Imperial porter. Higher ABV is fairly well hidden.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2013 00:34:59 | More by chinchill

barleywinefiend

Washington

3/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Poured a dark brown with a great look. A dirty tannish cap with some substantial stamina leaving behind a nice amount of bubbles and moderate lacing

S: A green like funk, grains and sordove husky. A moderate roastiness with bakers powder cocoa and light coffee

T: Immediate astringency with roast and baking cocoa, grains, a lingering funky, taint rides the taste buds until the finish. There is a borderline harsh bitterness, astringency on the end which is a little to much for the style.

M: Medium leaning full bodied, well carbonated, harsh roast and lingering greeny like seaweed funk and skunk on it

O: Average porter at best

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2013 18:55:05 | More by barleywinefiend

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.04/5  rDev -25.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Thanks to Momar42 for the bottle! 12 oz bottle into a Duvel tulip.

A: Pours a very dark red color. The head is a one finger offwhite shade with poor retention.

S: I'm sure a fresher bottle would provide a better hop profile, but in its current state, it offers light notes of citrus and herbal pine. The malt itself provides light chocolate, hazelnut, toffee, and roasted malt.

T: The hops are evident at the onset - and even in their faded state, still offer notes of grapefruit peel and evergreen. After a while the hops fade to reveal more of the dark, chocolaty malts. Like many robust porters, it's ultimately too acidic, especially near the finish. The hop profile picks back up after the midtaste. Not bad, but there's something here holding back (maybe the catty Simcoe-esque tone on the aftertaste? That's what ruined Night Stalker for me) its potential.

M: It features a strangely chalky dryness to it - for some reason, it makes this very hard to drink. Or maybe that's because of how heavy it feels. At least the carbonation fits its resiny, heavy texture.

O: Don't hate it, don't love it. I'm finding it hard to drink, if not quite completely unpalatable. These robust porters never fully work for me. Still, I'd like to try this fresh - we can't look a gift horse in the mouth, can we?

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 01:48:27 | More by ThisWangsChung

WanderingFool

Massachusetts

4.09/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Jose Marti pours near black with some ruby highlights around the edges. On top a creamy light tan head forms. As the foam dissolves some spots and lines of lace cling to the glass.

The aroma is malty with notes of roast malt, chocolate, nuts, a touch of grass, and some alcohol.

Each sip of this medium to full bodied beer is very smooth, creamy with mild carbonation. The flavor is malty with notes of chocolate, roast malt, caramel, nuts, ripe fruit (strawberry?) and toffee. It finishes somewhat bitter and a little grassy. Once gone the grass and chocolate lingers on the palate.

This is a very tasty beer that's easy to drink for 8% abv. The flavors definitely come through as the beer warms.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 21:44:21 | More by WanderingFool

Beerenauslese

California

4.48/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a slightly transparent but very dark brown, with a foamy tan head that dissipates to a ring leaving some tan lacing on the glass.

Smells of roasted malt, brown sugar, vanilla, and west coast hops.

Nice roast malt, coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla flavors, balanced by spicy hops, with a bit of orange/citrus in the finish. Really roasty with a little tartness and not a lot of bitterness.

Body is light and carbonation a bit fizzy. Develops a slightly creamy mouthfeel if held a bit before swallowing.

This is a really flavorful roasty porter with notes of dark chocolate and citrus in a light body. The many layers of flavor remind me of a Belgian praline. 8% ABV comes at you toward the end, but is otherwise well hidden.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2013 02:08:45 | More by Beerenauslese