Bert Grant's Perfect Porter - Yakima Brewing Co. / Bert Grant's Ales

inebrius

Michigan

4.53/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I wonder what chocolate milk might taste like if you added gas.

Red skirted dark juice leaves its skeletal remains clasping glass. Nose of pretzels coated in chocolate coated in crushed hazelnuts. Creamy roasted milk chocolate across the buds with near phantom swirls of coffee and charcoal flows easily and I think this is one of my favorite porters now.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2005 03:23:17 | More by inebrius

Hopheadjeffery

Illinois

4/5  rDev +0.3%

12-22-2012 15:42:41 | More by Hopheadjeffery

JohnSlaney

Connecticut

3/5  rDev -24.8%

01-19-2012 03:22:25 | More by JohnSlaney

rab53

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +0.3%

12-10-2011 04:11:05 | More by rab53

Jredner

Florida

3.95/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Sept 23 2005 re-rate: Huge roasted coffee and chocoalate aroma. Dark brown to black. Thinish head. Perfect flavor. I, like many people, came to better beer via the Guinness route, but it wasn’t until I had this that I truly became hooked and I’d had every darker beer Sam Smith and Young’s had to offer me as well as having drank in Belgium and through Europe and brewpubs around the states...something is just infinitely right about the flavor here. It is the emodiment of porter to me and time has only strenghted my feelings about that....even after blasting my palate with so many huge beers this still tastes like heaven. It’s still on the thin side...and I like my porters thinner than most, but otherwise it remains nearly perfect.

Perfect dark porter appearance with a thin creamy white head. Coffe ground aroma. EXCELLENT tatse. roasty coffee/mocha flavors with a great finish. If this were just every so slightly thicker it truly would be perfect.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2006 17:34:44 | More by Jredner

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4.38/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A beautiful porter when enjoyed on tap. Ordinary when from the bottle. From the tap, it pours a creamy and robust brown color with a lightly tan head and modest carbonation. Aromas are of dark grain, toffee, coffee, and a touch of lactose sweetness. Flavors are more the same, but melded into a super easy drinking beer. Soft on the palate and silky smooth. Thins a bit in the finish, leaving a light chalk texture. Still, one of the best porters out there.

Serving type: on-tap

01-13-2006 21:12:52 | More by BEERchitect

rowew

Colorado

4.1/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 12 oz twistoff short bottle. Description of the style, but no freshness info.

Appearance: Dark brown with a hint of red around the edges. Large brown head that fades pretty quick. Leaves a bit of lacing as it drains.

Smell: Aroma has lots of roasted smells - coffee and a hint of chocolate. Just a bit of smoke in there too.

Taste: Medium bodied. Taste is similar to aroma - lots of roasted. The chocolate comes through more here, with the coffee taking a background. Again there is a hint of smoke.

Overall impression: Very nice example of a porter - lots of roasted flavors make this one a pleasure to drink.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2005 23:27:33 | More by rowew

beersarang

California

3.9/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice obsidian with a dark tan head.

Coffee and charcoal literally leap out of the glass, sweet charcoal aroma is nice overall.

Chocolate and coffee and caramel make up the malt profile but the star of the show is clearly charcoal. Not a bad thing at all really. Balanced out by unobtrusive hops that blend in well with the malts. Finishes just a dab sweet on the exhale, very low alcohol.

Lighter bodied, as a porter tends to be, with moderate carbonation.

A solid porter overall, I was pleased with it.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2005 22:52:48 | More by beersarang

walleye

Michigan

4.03/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

from the bottle. poured brown with a nice sized tan head that left some nice lacing. aroma brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate, roasted malts, caramel. flavor chocolate covered cherries, malt, sugar honey. enjoyed this beer nice and smooth with a nice mouthfeel too it.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2005 20:16:51 | More by walleye

Zorro

California

2.28/5  rDev -42.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours a clear deep brown beer with a good light brown head.

Smell is very strong coffee and smoke with fainter chocolate scents. Faint sweet and acid scents and a vague fruity trace complete the scent.

Taste is under powered and light in the beginning. After a bit a chocolate flavor shows up with a little smoke in the aftertaste. Unfortunately that is about it for the flavor, a disappointment. Weak chocolate flavored soda.

Mouthfeel is watery.

Drinkable as in a glass of weak soda. This doesn't taste bad, in fact it barely has a taste at all. AVOID!

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2005 02:51:16 | More by Zorro

LucaBrasi

New York

3.2/5  rDev -19.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appears black with a tiny head that disappears rather quickly.
Smell is strong. Smells like a mix between coffee and chocolate.
The taste is of coffee, almost like mocha coffee with a slight bitter aftertaste.
Mouthfeel is slick; this porter is on the watery side with a slight carbonation.
Drinkablility is good, its an easy drinking beer not to shocking to the sense or mouth.
But nothing to go out of your way for either.

Serving type: bottle

09-24-2005 04:13:18 | More by LucaBrasi

fretlessman71

Colorado

3.9/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Pertinent Preliminary Comments: Heard great things from this brewery, as well as the legend of Bert Grant and all that he did for American craft beer. Have a hard time with the word “perfect,” but we’ll see; it is, after all, created by Bert himself.

APPEARANCE: Deepest darkest opaque brown that is only a hair’s breadth from being black. Tan craggy head that settles to a very thin cap. Decent lacing.

AROMA: Peated chocolated malt comes through more than anything right off the bat.

FLAVOR: Peated chocolated malt comes through more than anything right off the bat. (Oh wait – did I just say that?) Well, it’s true – this is a peated malt lover’s dream right here. Certainly the focus of this beer. Subtle hop flavors; nothing to write home about. The tiniest bit of caramel begins to creep in as the beer warms. Sourness from the smoky, peat-y malt is nice, but leans toward being a little much.

MOUTHFEEL: Light weight; medium-high carbonation.

DRINKABILITY: At 4% ABV, this could be the perfect session ale on a hot day – that peat flavor is very quenching.

OVERALL COMMENTS: Since peat isn’t one of my favorite flavors, this won’t be a regular on my beer shopping list, but if offered one I’d accept. Certainly unique among porters that are readily available.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2005 19:28:37 | More by fretlessman71

PorterLambic

Florida

3.8/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours just pitch black. Small head drops to film with little lace.
Smell is rich with toffee, coffee, caramel, molasses and dark chocolate.
Taste is exactly the same as the smell. Wonderfully balanced with great complexity.
Mouthfeel: medium bodied with light carbonation. Ffairly smooth with a nice mellow aftertaste. Yummy.
Drinkability is quite high, the coffee is a little overdone for me (I don't like coffee) but a fine porter indeed.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2005 19:18:45 | More by PorterLambic

beerceller99

Louisiana

3.78/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Perfect porter pours black with a reddish hue. A thin, wispy tan colored head has it as well as roasted nut and chocolate malt aromas. Light bodied and softly carbonated with a watery texture.
A rich taste of chocolate and blackened malts . No hop flavors to be found here. A pretty nice dark ale.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2005 18:25:59 | More by beerceller99

Naes

New York

3.98/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This one pours almost black with brownish red hues around the outside of the glass. The head is small, but semi sticky and laces decently.

This porter smells like a crossbreed between a sweetened mocha, chocolate and caramel.

Although the aroma is stronger than the flavor, the taste is mild and sweet. It starts off chocolaty and ends kind of burnt like, with hints of coffee.

Mouth feel is creamy yet smooth with a great balance of carbonation.

This one is a highly drinkable porter. Although it is a tad light for my style, it is great for what it is (a lighter porter).

Overall, it’s a good beer. Not anything out of this world good, but nothing to snicker at either. Definitely worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2005 02:12:57 | More by Naes

maybrick

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I didn't detect how good this was going to be by its nose. But wow, how much chocolate malt can one put into a beer? This is by far the best Porter I've had to date! As another reviewer put it "my immediate impression was porter with Hershey's syrup stirred in..." I agree.

What else is very interesting is the balance between the punch of the malt and the hop on the back end. Very crisp dry finish. Perhaps they're correct with respect to the name, Perfect Porter.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2005 13:43:30 | More by maybrick

beveragecaptain

New Jersey

4.28/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours out very dark brown, nearly black. Not much head, but what's there fades quickly. The nose is dominated by chocolate. It's like smelling chocolate milk. Some roastiness in the aroma too. This beer tastes more like chocolate than probably and beer I've ever had. I would be very suprised to learn this is not made with real chocolate. Roasted malt flavors. Not really any hop flavor or bitterness. Becomes smokey as it warms. Moutfeel is a bit thin. High carbonation. Good drinkability. This is a tasty porter.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2005 00:44:57 | More by beveragecaptain

RBorsato

Virginia

4.93/5  rDev +23.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Tasted on 5/12/05 at Bricks (Beer Bar) in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Black with a light brown head and nice lace. Chocolate dominates all around with roasty coffee/espresso aromas and flavors. Nice robust flavors with decent body considering hte low alcohol content. Kinda reminds me of a Starbucks Mocha ... delicious !

Blows most true "English Porter" imports away !

Bottled: 11/22/04

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2005 20:42:10 | More by RBorsato

bceaglejoe

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: Poured deep black into the pint glass, with about a finger thick tan head. It showed off a low amount of carbonation, and the head had good retention as well. Scents of chocolate and coffee dominated the nose, mixed with the smell of roasted malts.

Tasting: It tasted very much like coffee, with a lot of malt flavoring. I thought the coffee flavor was too bold for my liking. The chocolate that came through in the aroma did not come through in the taste. This was a medium-bodied beer, with almost no bitterness. Its low alcohol content makes it very drinkable, though I didn't really prefer the flavor so much. Those who like the taste of coffee over that of chocolate will enjoy this.

I would recommend using this if you are baking beer bread. It brought out the right flavors and aroma in the finished product when I tried that. I wasn't that big of a fan of the dominant coffee taste, but others might be.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2005 22:00:45 | More by bceaglejoe

Roderick

Kentucky

3.65/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

It poured VERY dark with a tiny head that dissipated in under two minutes, seemed to be very little carbonation.
The smell was very nice sweetish with chocolate and coffee,
Taste was as the smell predicted of dark chocolate & coffee that went down smooth with just a hint of bitterness.
I liked this Porter and plan on purchasing it again as well as exploring some of the other Bert Grant products.
Paid $1.50 for a bottle

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2005 13:56:01 | More by Roderick

gbontrag

Colorado

4.7/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

This has a perfect beer hat: 2 fingers of tan, thick froth collapses slowly into a beer meringue. Lustrous, reddish brown. Held directly to the sunlit window it's the deepest ruby. Smells of figs and molasses.
This is something to behold. A & W root beer up front, coffee chaser, baker's chocolate aftertaste. Perfect burps. I find it a little too carbonated. It's dry. There's middling molasses sweets. Dry apple crispness. Smokey aftertaste. Perfect porter.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2005 21:02:45 | More by gbontrag

tomthumbsblues

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

12 oz. stubby bottle with no freshness date apparent. This beer pours a very dark brown almost black. No light was able to be seen through the beer. The 1/2 in. head goes down fairly quickly leaving a layer of bubbles on top. The smell is of bittersweet chocolate. The taste is the same with light roasted malt and breadiness. Very little bitterness was noted. A well-balanced and smooth beer. Great flavor, lives up to its name in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2005 02:03:28 | More by tomthumbsblues

mschofield

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a dark brown/black topped with a two finger creamy khaki head, leaves rings of lacing. I'm going to bump the appearance up .5 because I really like the 5 masted tall ship on the label.
Roasty, swampy, wet malt aroma, herbs and an earthy note.
Creamy, chocolate milk taste, a touch of smoky peat, very malty but there is an earthy/herbal balance to it, finishes with burnt caramel and dark bread. Coffee aftertaste.
Medium-full bodied, a great session beer at 4% ABV.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2005 02:37:56 | More by mschofield

meathookjones

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Body was just about black with a slight light tan head. No lacing was left as this was consumed and the head dissipated into a scant covering of bubbles fairly rapidly. Light roasted malts with a strong sweet dark fruit scent start it off. Lighter chocolate notes and eventually the roasty notes seem drowned out by the fruit as an odd sourness comes on as it warmed. Flavor began with some roasty malts and sweet chocolate. Light fruit notes and some coffee as well. Ends with a light roast. A bit thin but fairly creamy feel. Decent overall brew but nothing mind blowing. Not one I would have again but not bad.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2005 20:09:10 | More by meathookjones

putnam

Michigan

4.28/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer is essentially a chocolate covered raisin.

Very dark reddish black. Soft, round aromas of chocolate and coffee. Chocolate syrup flavors lead into a creamy, rich texture with fine, integrated mousse. Raisin-flavored maltiness comes to a dry, roasty finish. Vanilla bean, rum, pepper and spice aftertaste lends character. Deliciousness.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2005 01:29:41 | More by putnam