Black Creek Porter - Black Creek Historic Brewery

liamt07

Ontario (Canada)

3.1/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Bottle form the LCBO, best before date of August 2011. Into a pint glass.

Pours dark brown, some ruby red and mahogany highlights. A couple fingers of tan head, almost resemblant of cappucino; thick and creamy. Moderate retention. Nose is mostly coffee and some roasted notes. A creaminess, andmaybe a hint of milk chocolate. Taste is thinner and more subtle in all respects. Lesser coffee, slight roasted notes and maybe some milk chocolate again. Carbonation is quite high, too much for my liking. Body is quite thin. Not bad, just generally mediocre overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2011 03:59:59 | More by liamt07

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -6.3%

11-06-2012 16:03:31 | More by cfalovo97

Molson2000

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev +1.6%

09-09-2012 23:47:56 | More by Molson2000

Jeffo

Netherlands

3.73/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Got this one at the LCBO this past summer.

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter

APPEARANCE: Light brown pour yields a small, off-white head with lousy retention. Head fades quickly to a splotchy wisp and ring. Dark bistre brown body, very clear, with no carbonation evident. A ring remains until the end but leaves no real lacing down the glass. A touch too light and transparent for the style.

SMELL: Roasted and dark malts, dark chocolate and some chocolate fudge. Pretty nice really, and plenty forthcoming.

TASTE: Dark malts mostly, with caramel sweetness and dark chocolate up front. Burnt toast and some bitter dark chocolate again at the swallow. Bigger and lingering finish of bitter dark chocolate, roasted and malty sweetness and burnt malt notes. Definitely lots of chocolate in this one, and more burnt notes in the flavor than the nose had led on. Very flavorful for the style as well. Good stuff.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Semi-creamy on the palate, goes down fine and finishes slightly dry. A little light on the palate perhaps.

OVERALL: Other reviewers have been pretty harsh on this one. This is a solid English porter. The nose and flavor are very forward and there's lots in there worth contemplating. A very enjoyable 5% beer, no question. This is one I'll be looking for next year when I'm back home. Recommended.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 19:30:54 | More by Jeffo

TerryW

Ontario (Canada)

2.88/5  rDev -10%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I'm still astounded when I drink a Black Creek brew that they are palatable given that they're turned out by the folks at Trafalgar who are infamous for brewing beers that have some weird funk. This one is thankfully funkless.

Pours cola dark with no head, only a thin ring. Very plain looking.

Nose is very subdued, toasty malt, some chocolate and coffee. Also light on the palate, dominated by toasted malts and coffee. Quite thin bodied, slightly tart with a hint of a dry chalky finish.

Drinkable, but unmemorable.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2012 23:38:59 | More by TerryW

BigGruntyThirst

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +9.4%

07-08-2012 02:58:51 | More by BigGruntyThirst

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.35/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; best before September 2012. I liked Black Creek's stout, so the porter seems like a logical follow-up.

Pours a deep mahogany brown colour, with scarlet highlights when held to the lamp. It is topped with one finger of dense, smooth beige-coloured head that wastes no time thinning into a foamy, creamy cap on the surface. Some lacing remains above the collar. The aroma is heavy on the roasted malts, with hints of toffee, molasses, walnuts, and a difficult-to-distinguish note somewhere halfway between cocoa and coffee grinds.

Good flavour, but I'd be lying if I said it was especially memorable. Once again the roasted malts steal most of my attention; their nutty, light sweetness comprising the backbone of the overall taste. Some acidity; it imparts a slight tang that I don't find especially endearing here. A slight hint of spent coffee grounds also comes to mind, with some leafy, earthy hop dryness becoming increasingly prominent in the finish. The dryness lingers only briefly. On the thinner side of medium-bodied, with mild carbonation and a very smooth mouthfeel. Easy to drink, and definitely not a chore to do so.

Of the three year-round brews I have tried from Black Creek (the pale ale, the stout and this porter), this one is my least favourite. It's kind of tasty I guess, but it's definitely nothing particularly special, and I have a feeling I'll forget about it within a month or so.

Final Grade: 3.35, and a B-minus shows at least some promise. Skimming through my review history, the only other English porters I have tried previously seem to be Rickard's Dark (lol) and Fuller's London Porter. It can't be that surprising that I must rank it lower than the famed FLP, which is one of my favourite 'drinkable dark ales' of all time. That being said - it's certainly not a BAD beer - it's just not a very inspiring one. If you are into sessionable dark beers, Black Creek Porter is worth a try, but in my humble opinion their stout and brown ale (Rifleman's Ration) are better selections that basically meet the same criteria.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 20:40:36 | More by thehyperduck

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle to Founders tulip.

A - Medium brown colour with a small amount of cream coloured head and some good lacing.

S - Roasted malts, chocolate, some hazelnut. A light hop presence.

T - Roasted malts, chocolate, some nutty flavours. Slightly dry overall with a bitter finish.

M - Light to medium body. Moderate carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 17:23:39 | More by TheSevenDuffs

Wordslinger

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev +1.6%

05-06-2012 01:25:22 | More by Wordslinger

SnatchyMcPants

Indiana

2/5  rDev -37.5%

04-27-2012 22:54:01 | More by SnatchyMcPants

WeissBoy

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +9.4%

04-21-2012 06:55:13 | More by WeissBoy

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

3.03/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: It has a nice dark nut brown color to it with ruby hues shining through . It has a tan head that dies down quickly and leaves some lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitly give out hints of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and sweet vanilla.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a roasted malt character with some chocolate, coffee, light vanilla and light earthy hops.

Mouthfeel: It has a high carbonation with a slightly thin overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with decent flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2012 19:55:52 | More by SebD

ThinkAgain

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +17.2%

04-04-2012 02:35:24 | More by ThinkAgain

traumaqueen

3/5  rDev -6.3%

04-03-2012 06:34:38 | More by traumaqueen

dipso123

California

4/5  rDev +25%

03-28-2012 00:26:44 | More by dipso123

Foddz

Ontario (Canada)

4.05/5  rDev +26.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A: Deep mahogany with barely any head. Only just barely translucent enough for a direct light source to shine through. What little head there is persists as a soapy film on top for a decent length of time after the pour.

S: Coffee, roasted malt, dark toffee, and perhaps a hint of charcoal and vanilla. Pleasantly complex while remaining subdued.

T: Coffee, roasted and burnt malts, a little smokiness to it towards the back end of the initial taste. Toffee flavours come through as well. Lingering aftertaste is somewhat burnt, roasted malts. Mild hops bitterness adds a pleasant floral spice that rounds out and compliments the flavours surprisingly well.

M: None too substantial on the tongue, but with enough presence to leave one satisfied. The roasted malt flavours gets the saliva going, leaving a lingering stickiness in its wake. The subtle dryness the hops and alcohol impart are magnified by the burnt notes, leaving one wanting another sip.

O: Very tasty and complex porter. Maybe a little rough around the edges for some palates but I like the bold mixing of flavours this beer provides.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 03:45:45 | More by Foddz

hotsudge

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +9.4%

02-05-2012 18:33:27 | More by hotsudge

pieman25

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +17.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I was perusing the LCBO nearest to me, and found this stuff. I could only afford one bottle of it, but I was very impressed with this beer.

Appearance: Poured into my pint glass, it had a decent amount of tan/light brown head that dissipated rather quickly. It was a dark brown colour, not much light showed through, but when you held it up to the light you could see some ruby red shining through it.

Smell - not much other than roasted malt.

Taste - A good deal of roasted malts, as well as some coffee and sour notes, followed by just a slight touch of spicy hops to finish it off. I think it could have used a bit more hops to be honest, but I was more than satisfied with the taste of this beer - complex and delicious, but rather drinkable.

Mouthfeel - The beer had little to no carbonation in it, and had a fuller body than some other porters I've had - I think possibly heavier than guinness (not that it's much of an accomplishment), but not any heavier than most porters.

Overall - I would recommend this beer, it's a delicious beer with a good body to it, and the only things that I feel could use improvement would be hops levels and head retention. This is a darn good beer that is well worth trying at least once, and I would certainly try it again.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2012 03:46:54 | More by pieman25

scott451

Ontario (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Best before May 2012. Poured into a pint glass. A very dark ruby with a meager bubbly tan head which soon diminishes to a ring.

Smells of coffee and toasted malts. Strong toasted malts. Charcoal. A very mild hop finish.

Medium light body. Not bad overall. Coffee and toast flavours kind of interesting.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2012 01:46:51 | More by scott451

Rijtjeshuis

Ontario (Canada)

3.05/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

L ~ dark brown, almost black in color. The head is a major disappointment: it rises to only about a finger off of a hard pour and collapses without any lacing to almost nothing quite quickly. Clarity appears to be be very good. When held to garnet-red highlights are revealed.

S ~ not a whole lot going on with the nose, here. I get some faint roasted malt with a hint of nuttiness, maybe some very faint coffee and nutty (almost doughy, like walnut) notes in the background there. But overall it was pretty weak.

T ~ again, there's not a whole lot going on here. In fact, I found that it leaves the feeling of cola without syrup. There was very minimal roasted malt flavors, with similarly very weak coffee and nutty tones. There's moderate hop bitterness, and maybe a slight bit of earthy hop flavor.

F ~ high carbonation and lighter body play up the fact that the flavors themselves are insubstantial. I really think that Black Creek's Pale Ale had more body.

I wasn't really a big fan of this one, obviously. It was drinkable, because it was watery, but there weren't any really strong or interesting flavors to keep the tippler interested with it. I like some of these Black Creek brews, but this one is a resounding "meh"

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2012 00:31:01 | More by Rijtjeshuis

andrenaline

Ontario (Canada)

3.73/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From notes...

A - Pours a dark ruby red colour, with a mahogany hue, finger of head with little retention and no lacing.

S - Sweet caramel, espresso and a hint of dark cocoa.

T - Tasty chocolate flavours, espresso undertones, nice leafy hop presence that lingers on the finish. A tad mild, but still flavourful.

M - Medium bodied, smooth and finishes wet.

O - Admittedly pretty pleased with this porter. Nothing mind blowing, but definitely tasty and easy drinking.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2011 15:32:01 | More by andrenaline

bigox420

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +25%

11-29-2011 06:37:37 | More by bigox420

jsnoek

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -6.3%

11-22-2011 04:43:53 | More by jsnoek

RedAleMan

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +9.4%

11-21-2011 02:10:07 | More by RedAleMan

hopsolutely

Ontario (Canada)

3.4/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Have enjoyed many a Black Creek porter before tonight and always considered it an excellent OCB beer, but this is the first time I've tried it back-to-back against Black Creek stout. It doesn't measure up nearly as well as I expected.

Beautiful clear beer, a very dark amber with decent head. Mouthfeel is enjoyable, but thinner than the stout. Aroma of black molasses, with roasted malts predominating more in the taste. A sweeter flavour than I’d choose, albeit with dryness in the finish.

Not as well balanced as its stout cousin, but still definitely a beer and a brewery I will continue to support!

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2011 01:34:04 | More by hopsolutely