Java Sutra Coffee Porter - Three Heads Brewing

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A cup of coffee pure and simple.Big coffee taste. If you like coffee, you get the beer. Above average mouthfeel.Very brown with some lace and small head. Somewhat drinkable.Coffee grounds , mild roast aroma.Slightly bitter, tad acidic in the finish. Coffee fans will rate this a lot higher.

Serving type: on-tap

05-09-2011 04:26:23 | More by northyorksammy

UCLABrewN84

California

3.25/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks to mjtiernan for sending me this one!

Pours an almost opaque dark brown with a 1 inch tan head that fades to a film on the top of the beer. Random spots of lace dot the glass on the drink down. Smells of dark malts, slight cocoa powder, and watered down coffee. Taste is of burnt coffee, roasted malts, bitter chocolate, and some citrus zest hops. There is a bitter burnt taste on the palate after each sip. The mouthfeel is somewhat watery and thin for a porter. Overall, this is a pretty average porter that walks a line between good and bad.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2011 05:03:42 | More by UCLABrewN84

oberon

North Carolina

3.95/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a deep chocolate brown with a thinner light tan colored head that held well leaving a broken ring lace behind as it settled.Dark roast coffee and molasses-like sweetness overtop of a whiff of leafy hop in the nose,a nice mix.A tad watery in the feel,if a little fuller this beer would be fantastic.French roast coffee with a little bitter chocolate on the palate,again molasses notes give off a little sweetness,its quite dry and leafy in an ubrupt finish.A pretty good coffee infused porter,again add a little to the body and its top notch.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2011 21:22:04 | More by oberon

WesWes

New York

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

The beer pours a dark brown/black color with a thick frothy tan head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a nice, dry roasted scent that boasts of coffee and and crystal malts. The taste is good. It has a smooth caramel and coffee flavor; dry and roasted with a bit of sweetness. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good drinking porter. It's nothing too bold, yet it has a good amount of flavor.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2011 23:25:05 | More by WesWes

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.64/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

This poured out as a dark brown color with a tan head on top that fades quickly. The retention just leaves a ring around the glass. And there is a very light lacing. The smell of the beer is big with coffee and hops. The taste is roasted, with a big bitter finish. There is a bit of chocolate in there also. The mouthfeel is kind of watery and dry. Overall it's a decent beer but it doesn't really doesn't set the bar too high.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2013 05:36:51 | More by Knapp85

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A 650 mL bottle from Finger Lakes. In a tumbler.

A: The porter is dark, a brown-red mix that verges on black. Only up close do the ruby and brown notes become more apparent. Lacing circles the glass, the effect of a two finger tan head.

S: I smelled the coffee immediately after opening the bottle, a sweet, lactic java aroma. Closer inspection brings darker malts, well-roasted, and more, much more, coffee sweetness and even a bit of metallic zing.

T: Dark porter, well roasted with chocolate (baker's primarily) driving an acrid bitterness. Coffee adds a bit of flavor, enough to remind you of its presence but not enough to overcome porter side. Citrus hops linger around the periphery, aiding the porter more than the coffee. The burnt porter flavors are all that are strong enough to survive.

M: More porter than coffee, the burnt flavors last. More coffee, please.

Serving type: bottle

11-26-2011 19:33:50 | More by akorsak

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Two-fingered pale beige head; leaves excellent ring lace. Near black where no light shines through.

Smells of burnt toast and cigarettes--lots of ash.

Near espresso flavor, particularly in the swallow. Starts off creamy, but the body is moderate with a low carbonation. Lots of black patent malt--strong burnt flavor. Kinda harsh.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2011 03:32:15 | More by smcolw

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.83/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a light fizzy bubbly head that reaches about 1 finger before it quickly subdues to a light head covering, over dark cola brown color with hints of ruby light coming through the edges.

Nose brings some nice fresh espresso aroma, freshly ground coffee beans, brewed coffee. Also some roasted malt aroma but not a lot, and some darker malts, caramel, light toffee, hint of burnt malt, and just a touch of baker's chocolate.

Taste comes on with more of the same but not as strong, coffee is there but more subdued, some fresh brewed coffee and hints of coffee grinds, a little bit of acrid burnt coffee but not much. Bitterness kicks in quickly with an earthy hop, little spicy hop as well, with oils from both hops and coffee, and bitterness from roasted malts and hops. The malts bring a light roasty flavor, then some caramel, hint of chocolate and black patent malt I think. A bit of an earthy grainy like malt flavor, and lots of earthiness from the coffee. A light charred salty briny flavor comes out a bit more on the finish thanks mostly to the coffee and roasted malts, but a bit from the hops I think. As it finishes it dries but gets a bit sticky, long bitter but salty finish with some more coffee beans and light roast, light earthy hops as well.

mouth is med bodied, lighter than I expected, decent carb.

Overall not bad, nice coffee addition that gets a bit too burnt/salty/earthy towards the finish, but not too much burnt or acrid flavors, the hops seem to accentuate the briny earthy flavors and don't seem to play well with the coffee IMO, but otherwise a tasty beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2011 17:09:16 | More by jlindros

ppoitras

Massachusetts

2.83/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22oz bottle purchased as a single from Savemore Discount Beverage, Clifton Park, NY.

Poured into am imperial pint, formed a 1/2" dark tan head over the clear dark brown brew. Head deflates slowly, with lasting coating lace. Aroma is a combination of coffee, root beer, and tartness.

Taste has underlying tartness from beginning to end, with root beer in the middle, and medium roast coffee through the close. Mouthfeel is rocky, with okay drinkability. Not something I'd look for again.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 01:01:46 | More by ppoitras

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Despite the addition of espresso, Java Sutra remains what I like to call a “beefstake porter”: brown with black streaks on the outside, but still a little red in the middle. Transparency is a far cry although I believe you could technically still consider the beer clear. Head is patchy but for the most part stays in good overall condition.

The aroma smells less of roasty, rich espresso than it does a simple, smooth arabica blend. While it's far from sweet it does contain a fragrant nuttiness that replicates vanilla and toasted hazelnut in a remarkable way; it smells like a hazelnut latte. Swirling, however, does bring about more smoky roast character from both the coffee and the malts.

Funny how some things can taste much differently than they smell; coffee carries onto the palate without as much nuttiness and instead cranks up the astringency and smokiness of roasted espresso beans. Gone is the flavour shot of vanilla-hazelnut but introduced is the taste of biscuity wafer covered in dark baker's chocolate.

If this were supposed to be a stout I'd knock it for not having enough malt, but as a porter the medium mouthfeel will make do. While we're making comparisons, this has about the same level of drying, lightly-astringent roast found in most stouts. A spattering of hoppiness finds its way into the finish, where it compliments the coffee.

Coffee porters tend to go either one of two ways: either the coffee obliterates the porter flavours, or the coffee plays nice and blends graciously into the beer. This is the latter, which I much prefer. Three Heads Brewing make a mean 'Caffè Americano', but it's definitely one to be enjoyed by the pint glass and not those dinky little cups.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2012 17:58:32 | More by biegaman

Brad007

Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Pours a dark brown with a one-finger head into my glass. Very nice colors for the style. You cant really tell that much.

A mild touch of roasted coffee greets the nose. There's a touch of cocoa and cream but otherwise, it comes off as a mild coffee porter.

Lightly roasted coffee dominates as expected with a very nice touch of cream and roastiness at the back. It really compliments the front end flavor.

Coffee, cocoa and cream are all I have to say regarding the mouthfeel. Very well balanced. Enjoyable.

I like this coffee porter. It gets the job done in an exceptional manner.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2013 10:36:09 | More by Brad007

StonedTrippin

Colorado

3.95/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

this beer was great from the label on out. classic artwork with a hop nugget in bed with an espressi bean. genious. the beer pours black as can be with a small mocha colored head on it. smells more like a cup of joe than a beer, totally overpowered by a dark roast coffee. the flavor is very strong coffee as well, high quality coffee from boulder is used apparently, and there is a strong sweet hop characteristic, like a good pale ale. usually these beers dont feature the hops too, but this one does, and its fantastic i think. mouthfeel is pretty average for a big porter, fuller bodied and moderately carbonated. am now curious to try more three heads brews

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2011 16:53:54 | More by StonedTrippin

tdm168

North Carolina

3.98/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A - dark brown with reddish edges; big, soft brownish head that has good retention

S - big coffee, sweet bittersweet chocolate

T - coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, mild bitter finish

M - medium bodied but thin at times, well carbonated

This is a nice beer but its rather simple. The flavor is dominated by coffee with hints of chocolate and roasted malts. The coffee that was used is a bit more sweet than it is bitter which in my opinion subdues its flavor a bit. Overall, this is a good (if one dimensional) beer that has good drinkability and enjoyable. It's worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2013 11:06:56 | More by tdm168

Suds

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Strong, dark, coffee beers seem to be a fad recently. This one stands out as one of the better variants. It's a very dark, nearly black beer with reddish highlights and a firm tan head. The aroma is remarkable...it really smells like the combination of a strong espresso and a robust porter. It's a strong, bitter, roasty, intense, smokey, enjoyable smell. The taste is not as astringent as expected, based on the smell. Malt flavor, some sweetness, coffee and grain, with some hop bitterness. The beer is flavorful, robust, and enjoyable. Full in body and lots of genuine coffee flavor.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 22:21:43 | More by Suds

billab914

Virginia

4.08/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

22oz bottle poured into my Surly nonic pint glass. It poured pretty close to black in color with a foamy, frothy, tan colored head covering the beer. Great head retention and lacing on the glass as I drank it.

The aroma has a pretty big coffee presence to it. I get a lot of roasted, coffee flavors mixing with a little sweeter, creamy, slightly malty component. The coffee is very good, it gives it some great roasty qualities to it.

The taste also shows a lot of the coffee throughout. It has a lot of roasted qualities to it up front with some complimenting creamy sweet, maltiness in the finish. The coffee is very well done in it.

The mouthfeel is somewhat creamy and slick with carbonation being a little below average. Very good mouthfeel for the style. Overall I thought it was a very good beer. I really liked the coffee flavors and the sweet, creamy, malitness really complimented well. Very enjoyable beer overall, I'd rank this one right up there with some of my favorite readily available coffee beers.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 00:00:31 | More by billab914

Hojaminbag

Colorado

3.53/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Java Sutra has a dark brown body that is not quite opaque. The tan head is about a finger tall, but pretty thick looking. Retention and lacing are both good.

A little bit of sweet malts, but mostly coffee.

A good amount of caramel sweetness pairs with equally strong flavors of roasted malt. The coffee flavor is pretty strong throughout, but it really shines in the finish and the aftertaste. Not a whole lot to this one, but solid and well-done.

Medium bodied with fairly low carbonation.

Another nice offering from Three heads Brewing. I still like the Kind IPA more, and it made an interesting black and tan when mixed with this one.

Serving type: on-tap

03-19-2011 15:46:36 | More by Hojaminbag

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

4.05/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a solid black color with a frothy tan head. Smells of milk chocolate, coffee and roasted grains. Not much in the way od hops in the aroma but lots of coffee. Taste is a rich thick creamy roasted grain and coffee mixed with milk and dark chocolate. Medium to thick body, light to medium level of carbonation. I tasted this first and while its not earth shattering in it's complexity it is very tasty.

Serving type: on-tap

07-31-2011 18:34:28 | More by johnnnniee

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #50 (March 2011):

Porter appearance, as we suspected, with more brown than black, but the tan head does not shy away. Freshly used coffee grounds, cocoa powder and a fruity, nutty yeast in the back while we sniff away. Smooth, slick and creamy ... a Porter with some body. Highly roasted grain meets spent coffee grounds. The palate almost says astringent, but the freshness is much too forward to really let any kind of bitterness takeover. Modest hopping, hints of burnt raisin and mild nutty yeast hit close to the dry finish. Bold comes to mind, as the coffee comes off forceful to start, but in the end, this Porter lands solid for the most part.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2011 13:39:43 | More by BeerAdvocate

rudzud

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Purchased at Julio's.

A - Poured into a Duvel tulip a deep dark roast brownish black. Atop as a nice mocha creamy head that hung around for a good long while.

S - Smell is of nice roasted malts, light chocolate and some nice coffee notes. Coffee bitterness too.

T - Kinda average here. Nothing super special. A bit too heavy on the coffee flavours, its roast with the malts, but alot of coffee. Rather one dimensional. Too light hint of vanilla and chocolate.

M - A bit on the thin side for a porter. Would like it to be thicker. Still nice in the mouth, but, a bit too thin.

O - Overall this was a nice offering of a porter. A bit too strong on the coffee to let other aspects shine though. Have yet to be blown away by this brewery.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2011 04:09:03 | More by rudzud

cbutova

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

My buddy Dan loves this one and has shared it with me several times. I have always been impressed by the taste and finally got around to acquiring a bottle to review.

A- Poured into a tulip with a body not quite as black as the coffee infused into the ale itself but a dark, dark brown. A light tan head forms to about a finger in size with a bubbly texture. Retention is OK and it all ends up being a small, fine bubbled ring around the edge. A few nice webs of lace outline the glass.

S- The tulip bulb helps capture the immense amount of coffee present in this beer. It smells like a nice French press in the morning after a long night of drinking (pretty much the only time I drink coffee). Really not much else, maybe some nutty and caramel hints, dark fruit hint.

T- The flavor reminds me of Peche Mortel, as far as the coffee, but not as rich or immense. Just a blast of fresh coffee and the grounds as well. Along with it comes some cocoa, roast malts, caramel and nutty brown malts. There is a vanilla sort of flavor that I notice in many stouts with adjuncts added. Earthy hops are there but I am surprised I even realized it with the nice java feel.

MF- A slightly creamy but thinner-end Porter body. Carbonation level is right down the middle. It is just personal bias but I prefer the richer body to support beers with heavy coffee and roast flavors. The thinner feel does help it drink very easily and deliver that coffee flavor dangerously. Slight bitter finish.

A very good coffee beer. I guess there are a ton of very good ones but that doesn't take away from the great coffee punch packed in this Porter. I am very happy with this beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2012 00:53:46 | More by cbutova

brewcrew76

Wisconsin

3.73/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Deep brown, black with ruby highlights and a big tan foamy head.

S - Coffee, caramel, hazelnut, vanilla, baker's chocolate and light roasted malts.

T - Baker's chocolate, fresh coffee along with some coffee grinds, light roasted malts playing alongside some burnt notes with a strong herbal hoppy finish.

M - Light side of medium with decent carbonation. A little thin.

D - Fairly easy drinking. One of those beers where nothing really stands out but I would also easily have another one.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 23:14:40 | More by brewcrew76

yesyouam

New York

4.15/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Three Heads Java Sutra is a dim brown, practically black beer, topped with a dense, coffee colored foam that has outstanding retention and lacing. It has an aroma of light roast coffee with a hint of caramel and licorice. It has a smooth medium body with a clean, dry finish. It's pretty lightly flavored. It's mostly coffee flavor with no sweetness and hardly any bitterness. It has a lingering coffee flavor. This is suitable for a session. It's smooth and tasty.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2011 14:04:31 | More by yesyouam

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Three Heads Java Sutra Coffee Porter in a trusty ol' pint glass.

Pours as close to black as possible, but with some dark brown tones. Nice girthy, beige head eventually fell, and laced while doing so. Looks decent.

Vanilla and dark roast coffee, but without much intensity. Still shows restraint with the added ingredient of coffee and conveys a lot of your basic and expected roasty porter aromas of dark chocolate and kilned grain. Not as bitter in the nose as I would have hoped (rather sweet), but I still like it.

Yep, she's a coffee porter (I read some reviews that claim the coffee was near-absent; not the case). The coffee is quality, and it's not over-the-top (maybe that's what one might expect as a lot of coffee porters and coffee stouts are super-saturated with the coffee element). I'm questioning the quality and effectiveness of the rest of the beer in the taste portion of this review. Nice malty flavors of bitter cocoa and char, but there's some light sulfur in the backdrop that throws me. Nuances of spices that I don't think they used in the brewing process are interpreted as cinnamon. This appartion of flavor is probably aided by a hop spiciness that has earthy tones. I like the nature of the coffee, like a Mexican Custapec, only seemingly darker roasted as nudged bold by the malts. The finish on this beer has a great burnt quality that lingers, and as you can read between the lines, I have no problem with it.

The mouthfeel suffers from a thin body. Not saying it's thin, but relatively thin to what comes with the idea of a coffee porter. Carbonation is nice; very soft, so as not to accent the lack of viscosity and creaminess. Feels a little empty, but there's balance that saves it. We'll just call it average.

It was hard not to give the taste one more notch in rating, as I thought it was an overall delicious beer. It came together well, but it seemed attenuated. Didn't really jump off the table in flavor, in retrospect. Letting it warm up made it more drinkable and the quality of the ingredients used was a big plus. I'd recommended it and it makes me want to try more beers from this brewery.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2013 04:24:03 | More by thecheapies

AleWatcher

Illinois

2.43/5  rDev -35.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1 | overall: 2

Bomber arrived in the Disc Golf BIF #2.
Served in my Founders snifter.

This is a bit overcarbonated... The body feels thin as a result. The 3 finger head is foamy and built of microbubbles. Decent retention and nice chunks of lacing.

Smells of caramel and roasty malts with a little milk chocolate and just a hint of coffee.
The flavor adds a really dry finish, slightly acrid, like scalded coffee, and a little something that reminds me vaguely of chocolate-covered coffee beans. The coffee/espresso is weak-- this is a great example where "more would be more," if you know what I mean.

Overall-- meh. As far as porters go, this is about average. As far as coffee porters go, this is well below mediocre. Way to thin, too dry, and too little coffee flavor-- I feel like this label should be disallowed due to false advertising.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 03:28:55 | More by AleWatcher

russwbeck

Virginia

4.2/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Completely black pour with a one finger tannish head. Not a lot sticks around, but what does laces nicely.

S: Smell is of distinct coffee beans, roasted malts, and other dark flavors including some chocolate.

T: Big coffee flavor up front. Roasted malts and some chocolate. Mirrors the smell nicely. It all finishes dry with a nice amount of hops.

MF: Heavy bodied, but silky. Flavor coats the mouth.

D: Decently high. This was a nice surprise.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2011 06:47:10 | More by russwbeck