Pike Pole Porter
Fire Station 5 Brewing Company

Pike Pole PorterPike Pole Porter
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Fire Station 5 Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
78
Avg:
3.08 | pDev: 10.06%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
12
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 16, 2006
Added:
Feb 24, 2003
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by freed:
Photo of freed
Reviewed by freed from Oregon

2.55/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Mabye it was just this batch, but it seems that his beer was bottled too early. The color was normal, but the carbonation wasn't right, and the beer was very green. There was a porter by flavor, but I have my doubts it had reached the appropriate final gravity.

Also, for a local brew, I can't find any info on who or where its brewed. Curious.
Mar 02, 2003
More User Ratings:
Photo of umfskibum
Reviewed by umfskibum from Maine

3.1/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 3
A: The nice, black color of a porter, but almost no head, no lacing, and very little visible carbonation. Slight ruby tint around the edge when held up to a light, but this really is a black hole of a beer.

S: A nice strong smell of roasted malt and coffee. There are some secondary notes of chocolate and alcohol winking through too.

T: After a weak showing in terms of look and scent, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of this porter. As a porter, it does everything right - burnt malt flavors, coffee, chocolate and just a touch of bitterness. Really a pleasant tasting beer.

M: Now this is where Pick Pole takes a real nosedive. Watery and overcarbonated. Quite honestly, the watery, bubbly feel of this beer made it tough for this reviewer to swallow.

D: Pretty average. The beer has an above-average taste, but the appearance, nose and particularly the mouthfeel kill it for me. I can suggest this beer only for the flavor, as other reviewers may not have the same qualms about the feel and look of this beer that I did.
Nov 16, 2006
Photo of Jredner
Reviewed by Jredner from Florida

3.14/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Aroma is roasty, slightly stale with some milk chocolate notes and some coffee. Black body with a slowly dimishing tan head. Roasty, slightly smoked tasting malts..some watery notes in the flavor, but the mouthfeel is good. Bitter roasted finish. Very one dimensional flavor wise with roasted and smoked notes being the only show in town.
May 19, 2006
Photo of BDTyre
Reviewed by BDTyre from Canada (BC)

3.18/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
This is a nice, dark colour that is typical of a decent porter. Near black, with a dense white khaki head.

The smell does not seem to bring "porter" to mind. I can hardly detect anything "porter" in this; mostly it smells of metallic water. The taste retains this metallic, watery hint but at least hear I can taste some roasted malts with chocolate and toffee hints.

This is an okay beer. It feels sharp and tingly on the tongue, and the ever-present metallic scent and taste really hurt this porter's potential. It feels too water and overly-carbonated. Where's the thickness?
Nov 09, 2005
Photo of RedDiamond
Reviewed by RedDiamond from Oregon

2.71/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5
In retrospect, I might have guessed that a supermarket porter wouldn’t hold much promise. Porters are fickle creatures and even those that start with good intentions often fail to please. A cheap porter is like a bad shortcut: seems like a good idea at first, until suddenly you find yourself in a swamp of murky flavors and wish you’d taken the trouble of keeping to a more sure-footed path.

Pike Pole pours from a non-conditioned bottle to display a well-retained lumpy tan head with turbulent CO2 on a visually thin cola-like body. The aroma is initially passable, but it passes. What follows is a smell stretched across the rim of the glass like a police line – don’t cross it if you’re squeamish. The drab taste lacks crispness or vitality. Nothing dry or roasted steps forward, just a wayward visit from caramels sipping day-old coffee, looking for a place to hang their hat. The mouthfeel is plump and has good roll, and lace makes a solid appearance. But the finish is like pencil shavings.

The best thing I can think of to do with this beer is take the label off and tell your friends you brewed it yourself. They’ll believe you.
Mar 23, 2005
Photo of kmpitz2
Reviewed by kmpitz2 from Tennessee

3.56/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer pours a deep brown color with a finger of head that falls to a quatrer inch over the beer. The nose is full of brown sugar sweetness, and not much more. The flavor is a thin coffee with a light chocolate finish. Its not bad. The feel is moderate to thick with a lighter carb to help it with a thicker feel. This is a nice smooth, drinkable beer. Another nice offering from Firestation 5.
Nov 20, 2004
Photo of beertaster13
Reviewed by beertaster13 from Washington

3.69/5  rDev +19.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a dark blackish brown with a little tan head that fails to impress. Lacing is average. The smell is of roasted nuts and caramel. Chocolate/raisanettes tickle the nose. Taste has a nice honey/brown sugar sweetness. A dark roasted chocolate flavor is there but not as much as I would hope. Light bodied for a porter, enough where they go down farely smooth. Listen at a buck a bottle you can't complain, it isn't the best, but did you think it would be?
Jun 22, 2004
Photo of HiroProtagonist
Reviewed by HiroProtagonist from Maryland

3.15/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pike Pole Porter was served from a 12 oz bottle. In a pint glass, the beer was a dark brown hue with mahogany accents, and was topped by creamy tan head that left thin fine lacing. The well-developed nose presented a sharp figgy coffee maltiness, with underlying of roastiness and earth. On the palate, a mildly sharp and bitter raisin-coffee-chocolate maltiness tries to make a stand, but ends up a bit watery and bland. More pronouned mocha flavors came out in the transition to the zippier sharp and bitter mocha finish that left an unpleasant worty over-sweetness. Good flavors were certainly found in this beer, but the "green" finish and initial watery-ness diminished the end product. The body was quite thin as well. I recommend skipping this one in favor of one of the many other and much better PNW porters.
May 26, 2004
Photo of RoyalT
Reviewed by RoyalT from Michigan

2.98/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Appearance – Dark brown in the body with a nice, rich tan head that left some good lacing.

Smell – There’s a nice roasty malt and burnt coffee aroma to this Porter. I can also pick up some dark refined sugars.

Taste – The notes from the nose made it to the tongue, but this effort by Fire Station 5 lacks the complexity that I have come to enjoy from a good Porter.

Mouthfeel – Very thin, almost light-bodied, and lacking in bitterness.

Drinkability – This went down well but lacked the depth of a good Porter. At $1 a bottle though it wasn’t bad.
Apr 17, 2004
Photo of alexgash
Reviewed by alexgash from Connecticut

3.15/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours a dark brown with a bubbly tan head. This beer looks a little overcarbonated. Smell is soapy sweet, chocolatey malt with light coffee roastedness. Smells a tad "artificial." But not too bad. Taste starts with sweet, chocolate-ish malts. Body is a little thin and overcarbonated. Slight roasted bitterness takes over, but it's not enough to balance out the sweetness. It's almost cloying.
Feb 19, 2004
Photo of Thrasher
Reviewed by Thrasher from Oregon

2.91/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Contract brewed for Fred Meyer grocery stores by Portland/MacTarnahan's brewing. Portland/Mac's makes quite a lot of these grocery store brews including Elk Rock for Safeway and Metolius for Albertson's. Gotta keep those shareholders happy and those tanks in use. I wonder if they're all the same recipe and they just slap a different label on them, or if each store has its own unique brews. As for this beer, a dark brown with large puffy head that lasts and lasts; lace on par with the creamiest Guinness. Nose of dark chocolate. Beer has quite a lot of chocolate flavor but herbal hops set it a little off kilter. As freed mentioned it does taste a little "green." I was initially disappointed with this, but now I'm on the final bottle of the six pack and it's not so bad. Creamy mouthfeel is beyond reproach. Still, taste is not wholly satisfying and overall this is a below average porter, only worth buying if it's heavily discounted.
Dec 23, 2003
Photo of Reidrover
Reviewed by Reidrover from Oregon

2.85/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Bought this in the brown 12 oz bottle ..no best by date.
Poured the beer it was dark brown but no head to speak of..very average.
Smell was Ok I picked up some burnt malt some coffee..run of the mill porter smells.
This did not taste like a good porter at all..way too light and too much carbonation .
not good mouthfeel for a porter thin and bubbly..not good
Its drinkable but I doubt I would buy this again..not a good porter at all.
Feb 24, 2003
Pike Pole Porter from Fire Station 5 Brewing Company
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 12 ratings