General Washington's Tavern Porter - Yards Brewing Co.

tobelerone

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Interestingly this is one of the few beers I much preferred from the bottle than from the tap, and I’ve had it on draft at the brewery more than a few times. Not sure why that should be but the bottle opened my eyes a bit after feeling a little disappointed in the tap version after each sampling.

Pours like a good porter should; rich black color, a decent-sized off-white head with good retention and lace. Roasted malt aroma with subtle coffee and bittersweet chocolate notes. Mild floral hoppiness buried somewhere underneath it all.

The flavor pretty much follows the nose, with perhaps a deeper chocolate malt and molasses taste and overall sweetness than the aroma lets on. Good bitterness and char aspects as well, some coming from the hops and more from the roasted malt flavor. Very balanced and tasty. Semi-dry finish.

Medium bodied and carbonated with surprisingly, a smoother, creamier feel than I recall the tap having. I’m not a fan of overly carbonated, prickly porters and this one was smooth and soft enough in the mouth to be very pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2012 18:34:54 | More by tobelerone

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark brown/bl ack body with Coca- Cola highlights. Four fingers of bubbly light tan foam. Minimal lacing.

Aroma is lightly roasted coffee with a good shot of milk in it (the coffee that is).

Taste follows the nose. Big coffee, cut with milk, and an undercurrent of chocolate. Earthy hops. Good balance.

Medium-plus mouthfeel. Smooth, a little slick.

A tasty solid porter. Another impressive item for Washington's resume.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 04:23:11 | More by RonfromJersey

Neorebel

New Jersey

4.03/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The bottle states that it's color is a deep garnet... and I find that I rather agree! You can see the light coming through towards the bottom of the glass... a beautiful color, and it has a mountainous, pillowy head that sticks around for quite a while, never fully receding. Aroma - Roasted malt, toffee, vanilla cream, milk chocolate, and perhaps the faintest bit of hops. In the flavor I am picking up coffee, molasses, and definitely some hop bitterness in there. The beer coats the mouth very well and tingles as it goes down. The ABV is imperceptible, however. Overall I would recommend this. The bitterness to the finish adds a ruggedness to the character of what would have been an average porter.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2012 03:59:49 | More by Neorebel

mooseo

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle poured into tulip.

A - Dark black with a thin tan head.

S - Potent aroma of coffee, cocoa, roasted malt, and a touch of dark fruit.

T - Roasted malt and sweet molasses up front, followed by notes of coffee, dark fruit, and earthy hops. The hop profile is stronger than the nose suggests. Finishes with bitter chocolate and burnt malt.

M - Medium bodied and creamy with low carbonation.

O - Nice complexity and balance to this porter. The alcohol is hidden well. Overall, an excellent sipping beer that only gets better as it warms.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2012 03:36:59 | More by mooseo

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.48/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a 1 inch head. Smell is mild, some roasted malts. Taste is roasted malts, molasses, some notes of coffee, a touch of alcohol. Feels full bodied in the mouth and overall this is a pretty good beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2012 13:44:28 | More by tone77

jwhancher

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bought a variety case of Yards' Ales of the Revolution. Have had this one before, but it's been a few years and I wanted to try this lineup once again. Poured this into a snifter glass.

A: Pours what seems like a solid black. Once held up to the light, it appears somewhat like a muddy dark brown. Has a nice decent quarter inch off-white head. Label art on the bottle is great.

S: Smells of molasses with a bit of some spicy hop character. The molasses lends a sweet syrup character. Also, some roast malt & perhaps some black malt. Smells a tad bit solventy from perceived alcohol.

T: Tastes dry with noticeable molasses notes. Has some faint roast & black malt notes as picked up in the nose. Perhaps the faintest of chocolate or crystal malts in the background. The dark malts lend themselves to the perception of some dark fruit: fig, dark cherry, and maybe plum.

M: Feels medium to medium full. Dry and somewhat bitter. Carbonation seems fine.

O: I really appreciate what Yards has done with this brew. It takes me back in time and makes me wonder what the founding fathers must have drank. I think Yards executed this one flawlessly and it's a fine interpretation. Being in Philly, I also can't help the fact that I can find this one real fresh.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2012 02:02:29 | More by jwhancher

ummswimmin

New Jersey

3.4/5  rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I really enjoy porters. My favorite is Ballast Point's Victory at Sea. That is an amazing beer.

I poured Yard's Tavern Porter into a pint glass. It looks pretty good. The core is black with brown tint at the edges. The foam was minimal with a light brown coloring. This head recedes to a scum quickly that holds on. The scum left some very nice lacing in the glass.

Off the top I smell a bunch of roasty qualities. You also get a bunch of malt presence. I also pick up a little bit of sweetness. This is almost like a light coffee roast.

The flavor is less complicated than the smell. I just get some coffee in each sip. I wish that the smell transferred better to the taste.

This is a good beer. There is very little differentiation between this porter and the average porter from many other breweries. It was good to have this after a very long day, but on it's own I wouldn't go out of your way to find a bottle.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2012 19:27:35 | More by ummswimmin

keanex

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass from a 12 ounce bottle with no freshness date.

A: Almost opaque clear garnet with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates.

S: Licorice is heavy, very fruity on the nose with hints of molasses. Smells good!

T: Slightly roasty with a black licorice slightly coming through. Slight molasses and fruits coming through. This is a bit confusing really. It's okay but I'm not thrilled over it.

M: Full bodied with light carbonation.

O: This is an okay beer, I won't buy it again, but it's very cool to try an old historic recipe!

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2012 06:02:27 | More by keanex

microbrewlover

Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This brew pours dark, almost black with a large head which takes several minuets to dissapate and lacing which remains in the glass throught.

There is the strong smell of coffee, chocolate and molasses. With a "smoky" quality.

The taste is pretty much like the smell with the chocolate and the coffee alternating for attention on your taste buds. There is only slight bitterness, much less than most porters.

The mouthfeel is a little thin and malty.

The taste that is left in the mouth after swallowing is that of chocolate and coffee with a "smoky" quality with a hint of bitterness.

This is an excellent porter for a cold winter night. If Washington did brew a beer similar to this it was definitely worth fighting for.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2012 01:21:34 | More by microbrewlover

jtierney89

New Jersey

2.65/5  rDev -31%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a deep deep amber color with noticeable clarity for the darkness. Big 2 finger off white head. Nose has those classic english scents. Very earthy with touches of barnyard, slight minty hop presence. Head eventually subsides to a half finger lace with pretty good lacing.

Tastes of peat barley and coffee with a very minor hop presence. Beer starts big and malty but thins out kind of watery on the back end. Flavors dont linger too long which is good cause they arent fantastic. Like a weird thin smokey chocolatiness. Like having a BBQ in london on a misty day.

Theres a bright fruit sweetness somewhere in here if you look for it. Eh.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2012 03:55:50 | More by jtierney89

BeerLover99

New Jersey

3.88/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: blackish brown/crimson shimmers
trace tan head, patchy lacing

S: nutty, caramel, malt

T: roasted malt/mild bitter finish

M: med/heavy body, smooth/mild chewy

O: Yards has done it again!
I need to try all of their beers.
Love the historical angle and wide
variety of styles.

YUMMY, TRY SOME!

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2012 17:20:37 | More by BeerLover99

DefenCorps

Oregon

3.6/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle, buck 99 from the Village Pump.

Near black with a dense, brown head that falls off to a ring rather fast, leaving patchy foam. The nose is decent. Moderately hoppy with a rather herbal and mildly floral nose, there's some roast, a mild grainy acidity, some cocoa, coffee grounds and some vanilla. Moderately fruity as well (in a yeasty way), with a nose suggestive of toffee and peaches, this aspect is interesting.

The palate opens with rather excellent flavors ruined by excessive carbonation. Robustly roasty with a pleasing blend of grainy bitterness and acidity, complemented by flavors of cocoa, a little caramel and fruity yeast, this is quite an enjoyable porter. Very dry, this beer has flavors of unsweetened cocoa. Drying on the finish with a mild bitterness, this beer is light in body, quite excessively carbonated, leading to a not wholly welcome carbonic acid bite and lightening the body to the point of wateriness. Despite it, though, there's a nice fruitiness that also lingers. The alcohol is fairly well hidden too. All told, a pretty decent and enjoyable porter. Allowing the carbonation to settle down greatly enhances the moutfeel, and I'm adjusting my score up by half a point to reflect this improvement.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2012 03:12:06 | More by DefenCorps

WMEugene

Virginia

3.93/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Pours a thick black with a thin tan head (with excellent retention) and significant lacing.

S - Sweet bready smell. Molasses. Some roasted malts with coffee and cocoa flavors present. Some alcohol is noticeable as well.

T - Sweet bready flavors and roasted malts. Molasses and brown sugar are present. An interesting taste for a porter.

M - Thinner in feel than I expected, but still medium bodied. Smooth drinker. Nice carbonation.

O - I found the Tavern Porter to be an interesting take on a porter. It's sweeter than most normal porters, which is probably attributable to the molasses. An interesting colonial recipe that is timeless.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2011 00:31:17 | More by WMEugene

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

General Washington's Tavern Porter
Yards Brewing Co.

Appearance: Very dark brown with a mocha cream head with good retention. This beer has legs, and lace...hey now...

Smell: Molasses, dark breads, alcohol. Alittle bit of cocoa. Roasted malts. Coffee.

Taste: In the flavor, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, coffee, faint spruce note. Astringent roasted malt mixes well with the sugars. Chocolate emerges again. If one was a simple town-person in Washington's time, I can see the quality of this beer developing an army of loyal followers. Hell, I want to grab a pitchfork and hit the streets right now! This beer is delicious!

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, smooth, creamy feel. Carbonation is solid. Flavors of coffee and vanilla linger into the glorious finish.

Overall: This is impressive porter. If Washington brewed a similar beer, he truly was the right man to lead this newborn nation. I wonder if he sold six packs?

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2011 06:46:09 | More by Stinkypuss

Morey

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle with "Bottled on 081211" stamped on the back neck of the bottle. Hooray for Yards!

Pours a very dark brown (almost black color). The beer is topped by one fingers worth of cream colored head following a fairly aggressive pour. Foam has now settle to a very thin layer with some bubbles remaining around the edges of the glass. Pretty decent stick.

Aroma: Hints of chocolate, acai, plum, and molasses.

Taste: Rounded malt flavor/body up front. Very light on the roasted and smoky flavors. I'm getting more rich and sweet flavors. There's a mild bitterness about midway. Finish is slick and wet with a bit of lingering sweetness.

Medium (just barley) bodied with a slick mouthfeel. Soft carbonation.

A decent Porter overall. The 7% is hidden extremely well. Nice job George.

Morey's Bottom Line: This falls a bit short in today's market, but I wouldn't have been first in line back in the day. If this is what our leaders were drinking then, what happened! Shame on the BMC's drinkers of today!

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2011 21:09:51 | More by Morey

JohnFatAss

New Jersey

4.28/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

What a pleasant surprise this beer was.
Had on tap at my local bar.

It is the best porter I have ever had.

It has an incredible creamy mouthful. Super smooth, rich and satisfying.

Taste is of roasted malts, bittersweet chocolate & molasses.

Goes down so easy you need to be careful.

Hope I can find this in six packs.
This is so good, I might even buy a case!

Serving type: on-tap

12-12-2011 00:46:47 | More by JohnFatAss

loveingminor

Pennsylvania

4.65/5  rDev +21.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pours a nice dark amber color. Definitely "porter" colored. Has a nice head.

Smell: Nice rich, roasted, porter smell.

Taste: Complex, rich, roasted. I don't really taste chocolate, but then again I'm not much for chocolate in my beer.

Mouthfeel: Not overly carbonated, but has a smooth feel.

Overall: I'm glad I picked this one. Can't have more than 2 in one night, but that just makes my stock last longer.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2011 02:32:18 | More by loveingminor

Brambleman

North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle into a pint glass. Poured opaque black, with a slight reddish hue and a half finger mahogany foam head. It quickly settled and left some lace.

The smell is sweet malt, then the bitterness from the hops. Definitely some chocolate on the nose.

The taste is slightly sweet/malt(chocolate hints)...then bitter....just like it smelled. This is what a porter should be! Wonderful!

The mouthfeel was perfect for a porter...silky and smooth with light carbonation, but not sticky or syrupy.

This was a wonderful offering! perfect every day drinker of a porter!

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2011 01:02:51 | More by Brambleman

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.55/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

dark brown with a creamy tan head. Nice lacing on top as well. Slow settle revealed some nice side glass lacing and a small pillow of tan on top.

The aroma was steep with roasted malts. Rich notes of caramel and molasses. Light grain touches and a bit of a herbal note persisted. Nice robust flavor, rich and sweet with a dry finish. Lots of roasted malts and a classic coffee and chocolate profile. Smooth, mellow and quite nice

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2011 23:43:10 | More by mikesgroove

troysoy2

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

I've been impressed with Yards' beers in the past, and I expect their tavern porter will be no different. Poured into a pint glass, the head is a nice khaki color, maybe a finger, and has decent retention. The beer is black with the slightest hint of red poking through.

The smell is awesome, plenty of chocolatey malt. Sweet, yet thought-provoking. The taste doesn't disappoint. George Washington certainly knew what he was doing. There's a great balance between the malt and hops, a bit of chocolate, and hardly even a trace of the 7% alcohol content. The mouthfeel is exactly what I like in a porter. Creamy, not syrupy. Smooth, yet prickly. I think I could drink this one all night long if I had the chance.

I think if there's anything this beer lacks, it's a little complexity. The taste, while awesome, gives itself away almost immediately. But hey, if that's the only problem I have with this beer, I am most certainly ok with that. Delicious.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2011 03:20:24 | More by troysoy2

AndyAvalanche

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint Glass. I'm sure both President Washington and Mr. Adams would approve! The pour itself comes out dark brown close to black. Lighter brown highlights when held up to the light. Off-white/tan head with excellent lacing. This is a very good looking porter.

Smell seems weak at first, but gets better as the beer gets closer to room temperature. Chocolate roasted and somewhat burned/roasted malts. A little bit of bready yeast, not much in the way of hops, somewhat smokey. A pretty straight forward and solid representation of the style.

Taste is solid, just as straight forward as the smell. Huge malt profile, darker more biter chocolate and slight hints of coffee. An over roasted/toasted, not quite burned taste. Some yeast is slightly detectable and a hope presence picked up in the flavor.

Good solid mouthfeel. It's medium/heavy with a good carbonation level. I find it pretty smooth and a slight creamy feel with a hint of smokiess as well. Nice drinkability too. I like it a lot, but liked it a little more on tap in Philly this summer, but I'll take it.

Thanks ericwo for the trade!

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2011 03:08:26 | More by AndyAvalanche

FeDUBBELFIST

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Packaged 2/10/11, consumed on 3/14/11. 12 oz bottle to pint glass.

A: One and a half fingers of dense, compact head. The texture is creamy, the color is medium brown and it lasts quite a while. The color is light for a porter but dark ruby brown nonetheless. Opaque except at the thinnest edges. Good to excellent lacing in sedimentary layering down the glass.

S: Malt forward with milk chocolate standing out among the caramel and molasses aromas. The hopping is appropriately light, incorporating a bit of grass and wood. The yeast brings about scents of dough, earth and recently conditioned leather.

T: In addition to the nose, brown sugar, toffee and light fruitiness in the form of alcohol soaked dates and raisins. Light lactose or souring milk qualities. Moderately sweet. Long lasting flavor.

M: Medium full body, creamy texture and a perfect level of carbonation. Gently effervescent.

D: George Washington was clearly the best brewer of the three statesmen. Or at least this beer was the best of the series and, for my tastes, the only one I'd buy again. I love the concept of Ales of the Revolution series, but they should be released seasonally or something. No one wants to drink colonial recipes year round.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 11:00:34 | More by FeDUBBELFIST

jdhilt

New Hampshire

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

Pours a three-finger light tan head that fades slowly to a ring leaving a good lace. Black color, no highlights. Light-medium carbonation and medium-heavy bodied. Baked chocolate nose and flavor is baked chocolate with some molasses. $3.00 for a 12oz bottle from Mount Vernon Gift Shop, Mount Vernon, VA.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2011 22:50:38 | More by jdhilt

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First had: on tap at Johnny Brenda's, Philly, PA

Another great selection from Yards, recreating G. Washington's old recipe. (Such a recipe does exist: see Mosher's book.) Pours a dark reddish-brown with a decent tan head that leaves a soapy lacing on the glass. Rich aroma that hit me before I even touched the glass. All kinds of sugars, caramel, toffee, molasses. This carries over into the taste without disappointment, rich and sweet, smooth and malty, with just a bit of coffee bitterness. Very nice. Heavy-medium body, and quite drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

09-17-2011 07:51:40 | More by Rifugium

Schmidts

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From the bottle Pours black tan with a beautiful tan head that stays. Loads of laceing.
Smells of cherries and sweet chocolate and malts.
Tastes of Black cherrys and a little bitterness and then the malt flavor comes through and finishes with a nice hit of Alcohol. Creamy and smooth the Laceing is still there with a little bit of head.
Having worked at a Distillery right out of High school back in the day I enjoy that little hit of Alcohol taste.

Very Refreshing in your mouth and creamy smooth going down, a very drinkable porter and Yards has hit a home run with this one.
I give it an overall of 4.5 this is a very good Porter.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2011 21:57:08 | More by Schmidts