Fade To Black (Volume 3 - Pepper Porter) - Left Hand Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
86
good
-
451 Ratings

rAvg: 3.83
pDev: 14.36%
Reviews: 187
Hads: 264

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Brewed by:
Left Hand Brewing Company

Colorado, United States

Style | ABV
American Porter | 7.50% ABV

Availability: Limited (brewed once). bottle (161), on-tap (22), growler (4).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

No notes at this time.

View: Beers (30) | Reviews (34) | Events (1)

Reviews

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Reviews by cokes:

cokes

Wisconsin

4.43/5 rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The blackest shade of brown possible, inky with light barely penetrating the edges. The head is no more than a slumped shoulder of tan, and where it sticks around in stunted form it leaves a few streaks of lace.
Raisins-in-dark chocolate nose, augmented with earthy, herbal cigar smoke, liquorice, vanilla pod, Port, and burnt autumn leaves. The pepperedness is hinted at, but not expressed forthright. It smells delicious, regardless.
It rolls past the teeth with milk chocolate and raisin notes. The chocolate fortifies and migrates darker. Cocoa nibs show incredible legs and last long past the swallow. It cycles past burnt toast and espresso, with wafts of campfire and cigar smokiness, along with the meatiness of grill scrapings. For a while, this suggests Vol.2 with its smokiness, though I don't believe it's from the malt. The culprit arises as the distinct smoked bite of chipotle materializes. The heat, subdued and smoky initially, builds towards the potent seeds and chile oil and lingers past each gulp. A subdued Port sweetness adds a countpoint on the close.
Medium bodied, inching fuller as its nearly still in carbonation. It actually works well here, giving a cask-type feel, and letting the malt and the smoky heat play off each other.
This is a stunner. A girthy porter with a weighty addition of pepper seems like an overreach, but there's either a deft balance or a harmonious overload of both here.
My feelings on Left Hand are generally lukewarm, but the Fade to Black series has established itself as something I eagerly look forward to every year. This is its most idiosyncratic yet, and probably its best.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2011 06:11:38 | More by cokes

More User Reviews:

jkane101

New Jersey

3.25/5 rDev -15.1%

05-24-2013 01:39:12 | More by jkane101

ackeeper

Illinois

3.5/5 rDev -8.6%

05-22-2013 02:43:02 | More by ackeeper

Ciocanelu

Romania

4/5 rDev +4.4%

05-21-2013 12:37:35 | More by Ciocanelu

beerdrifter

Germany

3.29/5 rDev -14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25

Picked this up while on vacation in PA. Dark brown, nearly black pour with a beige one finger head with great retention and lacing. Nice roasty, earthy nose with hints of cocoa, dark chocolate, and some subtle smoke. The taste follows suit with hints of mocha, tobacco, cocoa, coffee, dark chocolate, some subtle chili, and the smoke is even more prevalent. The mouthfeel is somewhat chalky and mouth-coating and very thin with a dry finish. Overall, a bit disappointing. Never had the base beer, but this didn't convince me to seek it out.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 16:36:46 | More by beerdrifter

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.75/5 rDev -2.1%

05-09-2013 05:04:13 | More by Kelp

FLBeerGuy

Florida

4/5 rDev +4.4%

04-29-2013 03:48:52 | More by FLBeerGuy

Jadjunk

Georgia

3.15/5 rDev -17.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25

Left Hand Brewing's Fade To Black Vol. 3 Pepper Porter is brewed in the style of an American Porter brewed with Chile Peppers. No label information. Bottled on 1/14/12.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle to a snifter. Served north of 52º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Pours a chocolate milk-tone head of a frothy cream consistency with an average retention and quality. Body color is a very dark brown, near black with deep orange highlights and a mild viscosity. Carbonation is not visible. Decent appearance for body color, but a little shallow in depth and the head quality suffers. 3.25

(Smell) Aroma consists of mild hints of roasted cocoa, a pinch of black malt, a bit of alcohol heat and some aromatic wet cardboard funk, likely from the age of the beer. Aroma is already a bit dated with most of the chili content gone and the remaining body soon to follow. Potency is medium at best. 3

(Taste) Flavor maintains better. Roasted chocolate malt and barley body with a scratchy chili spice on the mildly dry finish. Not a bad balance although it's certainly lacking a touch of balance against the sweet and dense malt body, perhaps a touch of earthy hop character that the chilis can't really counteract well. As such, the beer's flavor profile is very heavy without being equally complex. 3.25

(Mouthfeel) Mildly viscous slick texture with low carbonation, a touch of chili heat and a mild dry finish. It's a bit lacking in carbonation, and doesn't really go for drinkability as much as it should. 2.75

(Overall) Chili-infused beers are definitely a product of 2012, but it's not a part of craft beer history I regret tasting. This was not a bad take on the style, and the chili managed to stay well preserved in the flavor over the past year, whereas the carbonation and aroma have either been always lacking or fallen out. I hope that in the future if chili porters are brewed again that they will keep in mind that these beers can stay drinkable and light while maintaining the chili kick just as well. 3.25

Left Hand Brewing Company's
Fade To Black Vol. 3 Pepper Porter
/5.00

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2013 01:37:25 | More by Jadjunk