Steelhead Scotch Porter - Mad River Brewing Company

malthead

California

3.68/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance is beautiful, black with a dense tan head. Smells of cocoa, dark chocolate and smoke. It has an astringent aftertaste which I'm not fond of... and more hops than I would like. tastes more like a stout than a porter, whatever a 'scotch' porter is... Decent mouthfeel, but it's marred by that overly astringent aftertaste. I like drinking Scotch and all, so it's not that it's simply too harsh for me, but rather that it's too astringent and bitter to fit this style. Decent drinkability, though, inspite of that.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2005 04:50:56 | More by malthead

kguard

Iowa

4/5  rDev +1.3%

05-19-2013 14:56:34 | More by kguard

Bill235

Ohio

4/5  rDev +1.3%

05-09-2013 18:54:25 | More by Bill235

TheBeerAlmanac

Kentucky

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%

04-29-2013 01:13:25 | More by TheBeerAlmanac

TheSixthRing

California

4.1/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Appearance - Pours a deep cola brown color with a tan, finger width head. Fair retention, leaving a thin layer of microbubbles covering the surface. Lots of yeast sediment floating around. Leaves thin rings and spots of lace around the glass.

Smell - A healthy amount of deep chocolate overtones make up the bulk of the aroma, while lesser notes of coffee and earth play it up nicely.

Taste - Doesn't quite live up to the strength of the nose, but still nice flavor and balance. Milk chocolate upfront, followed by a light coffee bitterness before giving way to a moderate smoky character on the backend. Touches of caramel in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate, somewhat lively carbonation. Goes down smooth; slightly silky.

Overall - Quality brew. Good flavor; incredibly smooth and drinkable. Dare I say, sessionable?

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 04:55:18 | More by TheSixthRing

deonreds

New York

3.5/5  rDev -11.4%

04-04-2013 05:15:15 | More by deonreds

Nutwood

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

03-17-2013 18:19:19 | More by Nutwood

likesbeer

California

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

03-16-2013 03:44:49 | More by likesbeer

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev +1.3%

03-10-2013 20:28:11 | More by spycow

bcsbeer

Florida

4/5  rDev +1.3%

03-04-2013 21:45:58 | More by bcsbeer

buzzy

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

02-25-2013 13:25:17 | More by buzzy

zapahoppa

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1.3%

02-20-2013 00:24:20 | More by zapahoppa

SnatchyMcPants

Indiana

4/5  rDev +1.3%

02-13-2013 05:23:18 | More by SnatchyMcPants

fox227

California

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

01-22-2013 20:20:31 | More by fox227

cet128

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev -11.4%

01-22-2013 13:19:39 | More by cet128

beergoot

Colorado

3.53/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Nice brown body with a thick, chunky faint tan head; sticky lacing. Dark malt and cocoa in the smell. Bitter chocolate and sugary sweetness make up the bulk of the taste; some sweet caramel and a soothing, light bitterness builds up at the end of the taste. Medium-light in body; clean with a lightly sugary finish.

A fair porter that delivers on the basics. Nothing over-the-top, and no real wow-factor, but very enjoyable overall.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2012 20:07:32 | More by beergoot

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%

12-17-2012 17:28:26 | More by stereosforgeeks

allforbetterbeer

Colorado

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

Poured into a snifter. No fresh/expiration dates.

Pours a nealry black dark brown body under a compact finger of head that falls slowly.

Certainly smells more English in style, with peaty light smoke over frothy chocolaty malts. Little to no hops to speak of.

The flavor takes this in a new direction. The smoke and chocolate are minor in comparison to the fruity dark malts and coffee flavors. This is almost going baltic in profile. The dark fruit and coffee are quite dry, and accented nicely by a touch of smoke. This lands somewhere near Irish dry stout, English porter, and Baltic porter. at points it almost seems like this is dark chocolate with cherry. Quite nice.

The mouthfeel is full at first by surprisingly dry, with just a touch of acididy. This very well may be like the real original English porters.

Conclusion: Amazingly true to style. Well done Mad River! This is the first of their beers than I have tried, and I wasn't expecting something this good.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 07:26:39 | More by allforbetterbeer

EigenBeer

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

12-08-2012 23:42:03 | More by EigenBeer

t0rin0

California

4/5  rDev +1.3%

10-23-2012 01:57:45 | More by t0rin0

GFD400

New York

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%

10-22-2012 22:26:25 | More by GFD400

siddhartha

Colorado

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%

10-20-2012 21:45:02 | More by siddhartha

vande

Illinois

4/5  rDev +1.3%

10-19-2012 03:14:15 | More by vande

aflies

Arizona

4/5  rDev +1.3%

10-05-2012 23:23:08 | More by aflies

Gonzoillini

Illinois

4/5  rDev +1.3%

09-23-2012 03:43:12 | More by Gonzoillini