Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter - Tröegs Brewing Company

jtierney89

New Jersey

2.65/5  rDev -30.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

PPours a very dark sludge like brown color with a light 1 finger tan head. Mostly getting citric and oily hops on the nose. Surprising light in the mouth feel department. Very well balanced and easy to drink. Great flavors and lots of them. Dark and burnt malts up front with a nice citric and floral hop finish. Has a very very subdued dark fruit after taste and burnt bitterness. Not bad at all. The layers of flavors are impressive. The bitterness builds slightly on this beer diminishing its sessionability a little bit.

Otherwise Another fine brew by the guys at troegs.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2011 00:12:35 | More by jtierney89

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

3.55/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured on-tap and served in a tumbler pint, the beer is a deep, dark, amber-highlighted, black-brown coloring with a thin, tight bubbled, foamy, light tan head that settles into a slick film. The nose is effervescent, with light character overall, and little bits of nut and coffee are discernable. The beer's flavor is rich, with dark chocolate and black strap molasses sweetness, and a hazelnut-coffee bitterness to blend and clean up. The aftertaste is slightly bitter and cloying, with a rich chocolate and dark fruit sweetness. The finish is cloying, as well, with a good linger. The beer has a light and smooth body, but carries an awesome cling.

Serving type: on-tap

11-13-2011 06:36:57 | More by GarthDanielson

FaustieMo

Ohio

3.65/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours as a very dark porter with an average head. I was hoping for a bit more head given my pour.

Smell: Mostly dark malts on the nose, some earthiness as well. I tend to look for more coffee or chocolate in my dark beers, but this smells fine. Perhaps even some burnt caramel notes.

Taste: There is more chocolate in the taste than the smell. The strength in this porter is in its balance. There is a perfect blend of dark malts, chocolate, coffee, roastiness, and bitterness. Hop presence is more evident than in other porters. I really enjoy this porter, but would look elsewhere if I wanted something sweeter or with larger amounts of chocolate and coffee. The roasted malts are the more prevalent.

Overall, this is a porter worth trying. Sometimes, it can be hard to find good diversity in dark beers. This one, however, has some unique characteristics.

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2011 04:21:10 | More by FaustieMo

brewsclues

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -26.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: An opaque, dark brown (black?) body with a thin-foam, tan head that dissipated faster than I would have liked.

Smell: Honestly, I didn't get much in this category. A little bit of bitter, chocolatey malt, nothing more. Disappointing.

Taste: Good taste...for a Black IPA. Really hoppy (and I like hops) at the start, and quite a bitter finish. Some chocolate, roasted flavors on the tongue in the middle, which wasn't unpleasant. The hops (Chinook?) over-power this Porter a bit too much. It is quite drinkable, however, and very smooth and rich when it reaches room temperature.

Mouthfeel: A little thin for my liking.

Overall, I wasn't a big fan of the DR Porter - a rather underwhelming performance from an otherwise great brewery. I think there are some rich flavors in this beer masked by a overstated hoppy character. Not sure if I'd rush to get this one again.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 22:16:26 | More by brewsclues

rapidsequence

Virginia

3.9/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle from Pints O'Plenty.

Appearance: Black, with reddish brown highlights when held to light. The head is kind of short lived. It makes sheets of lacing with sips, then leaves just spots.

Smell: Sort of subdued porter aromas of roast and some chocolate, along with the unmistakable smell of Chinook hops (hint-- Arrogant Bastard). I like the hoppiness, but again, not overly porter-ish.

Taste: Nice and hoppy with earthy and piney hops flavors. Tasty roast and coffee/chocolate. Bitter in the finish, with lasting roastiness.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, easy drinking, and crisp on the finish.

Overall: A solid, hop-forward American porter. Reasonablly sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2011 02:25:05 | More by rapidsequence

schlimenhaumer

New York

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass at low altitude.

A: Pours a very dark, almost opaque, brown with a minimal sallow head of short retention. Not a whole lot of lacing here, either.

S: Roasty caramel malts with plenty of chocolate character.

T: Starts off with a mix of roasty malts and chocolate notes, followed by a surprising amount of bittering hops that carry through to a long finish.

M: Medium-bodied with a slick wet mouthfeel and a little bit of carbonation.

D: In my opinion, this is a good but unremarkable porter.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2011 04:29:36 | More by schlimenhaumer

HopSlap72

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Dark black finish, with a very thin cream colored head.

Smell: A very full chocolate malt smell, along with a slight hint of the Chinook hops. The Aroma finishes with slight yeast hint.

Taste: For me this is a very good tasting porter. It is more on the chocolate side than being a heavy roasted malt. The hop character is there just enough to ad a slight bitterness that flows well with the chocolate.

Overall: No doubt that i would buy this beer again. It is not something I can drink more than a few of, good beer for a nice social setting.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2011 19:47:26 | More by HopSlap72

Sensaray

Massachusetts

3.65/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours dark brown with half inch light tan head.

Smells of milks and dark chocolates and dark malts.

Taste is of a chocolate slightly less sweet than the aroma mixed with roasted dark malts.

Smooth easy drinking here with good carbonation, light medium body.

Overall easy drinking porter with pretty good flavors.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2011 02:56:30 | More by Sensaray

Daniellobo

District of Columbia

3.6/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Fair if a bit generic and tamed take on a porter.

Presentation: 12 oz capped brown bottle. Design pivoting around The illustration of a hand emerging from a water whose waves spell Troegs holding a stop watch. Shows bottling date 071911, and a brief description on the neck. Served in a tulip glass.

A - Deep brown pour, slightly short frothy head, moderate retention, and fair splashes of lacing.

S - Soft nose, a bit of chocolate and roasted malt, nutty sense.

T - Toasty malt, soft chocolate and coffee over the roasted notes, small bitter dash in the finish.

M - Medium to medium-light body and carbonation with a nice finish.

O - Decent porter that ultimately works pretty well, although a longer range would have been ideal.

Notes: One of those that I passed for years, always thinking to try and never doing so. Finally here one finds a good take at a porter but one that I fear will be be a good while before I try it again.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2011 17:26:56 | More by Daniellobo

MrOH

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 2.5

Dark reddish brown with a nice tan head. Decent lace.

Dark dried fruits. Slight chocolate. Very vinous.

Chocolate, slightly ashy. Nice spots of caramel here and there. Ashy on the finish. Some citric hops that clash with the roast.

Nice medium body with spot on carbonation.

Not horrible, but definitely not what I want in a porter. Too many powerful flavors clashing.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2011 04:18:33 | More by MrOH

Bmuncy

West Virginia

3.88/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Poured aggressively into a half-finger tan head. Head disappears relatively quickly, though a thin layer remains throughout the drink. Sediment float in the beer and there's a quite visible redness. Lacing on the glass is there but doesn't last.

Smell: At first, not much comes out. Some earthy malts, chocolate and a little hop bitterness. Warmth improves the quality and brings out the bitterness and chocolate a little more.

Taste: It's pretty darn tasty porter. Pretty close to being on par with Ed Fitz, which is definitely a major compliment. Still, it's no Ed Fitz. Chocolate bitterness, roasty and hoppy characters compliment each other and make the taste buds happy.

Mouthfeel: "Drink it in it always goes down smooth." It has a creamy texture and good thickness. It's medium-full fills the mouth and slides down the throat.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 05:53:52 | More by Bmuncy

warnerry

Michigan

3.73/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours black with tinges of red on the edges. Three fingers of pillowy head that has goo retention.

S - Smell is rather subdued, mostly roasted malt.

T - Taste reveals a lot of chocolate not really present in the smell, followed by nice roasted, earthy malts. A good hop presence to balance the malts. Slightly dry, earthy finish.

M - Mouthfeel is quite light with a good amount of carbonation. Some lingering dry bitterness.

O - Pretty solid porter, but the mouthfeel knocks this one down a couple notches.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 03:33:37 | More by warnerry

powellmg

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Black beer with a tan, rocky head. Aroma is herbal with a slight roasted note. Hops dominate the taste, too, with roasted notes and a slight sourness in the background. Moderate-high carbonation; a little too fizzy for me.

Overall, a decent beer, but a little hoppier than I expected for a porter, and a little rough around the edges.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2011 00:57:35 | More by powellmg

CaptJackHarkness

New York

1.23/5  rDev -67.9%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

From a twelve ounce bottle dated 07/19/11 @ 12.08.

Poured hazy red/brown with no head at all. Smells of bitter chocolate, tastes of burnt bitter french roast coffee. Leaves a bitter cloying aftertaste. I'm going to dump the rest of this one, hopefully it makes good drain cleaner!

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2011 22:31:37 | More by CaptJackHarkness

williepep

New York

2.2/5  rDev -42.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Not a bad brew -- for a black IPA. This is what was disappointing. If you're going to call it a porter, then it should be a porter. This was not a porter.

I was looking forward to another quality beer brewed by Troegs, and porter is one of my favorite varieties. However, as soon as I opened the bottle and smelled it, all I seemed to get was a potent hop aroma. It smelled like an IPA. The taste was no different. It was dry and hoppy, and also lacked the heaviness of a porter.

Though it is not an unpleasant beer, it is not a porter! I would really like it if Troegs got serious and made a real porter, as I'm sure it would be quite good. They should go back to the drawing board on this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2011 20:06:28 | More by williepep

Crossmd

Virginia

4.18/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured 45 degrees Fahrenheit into a Dogfish Head Collins glass.

Pours an opaque brownish-black. No head, and no lacing to speak of.

Smells of an intense bouquet of dried ripe fruit, apricot, banana, booze and a hint of grapefruit over a hint of dark chocolate.

Tastes nothing really like the nose, with a dry, powdery chocolate and a hint of coffee- smooth mouthfeel, excellent finish.

Overall, I LOVE the nose on this beer. I think it's unlike any porter that I've had yet. I wish the taste was a lot more like the nose. Despite it, I'll be returning, probably buying in six packs.

91.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2011 01:40:32 | More by Crossmd

mvanaskie13

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a fluted pint glass, nice dark brown color with thin tan head, nice lacing and carbonation.

Smell is roasted malt with a hint of caramel malt, light bitterness hinting at pine.

Taste is mildly sweet, roasted malt hints of caramel sweetness as well; nice solid bitterness comes through in the finish, hints at citrus or pine, then the roasted malt flavors come through.

Mouthfeel is just right for a porter, good sweet presence with solid bitter backbone.

Overall, just a solidly great porter, great roasted flavor without overpowering sweetness and clean bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2011 00:58:20 | More by mvanaskie13

Arithmeticus

Maryland

4.63/5  rDev +20.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured chilled in flared glass

A: solid black; thin, creamy head; good carb action
S: very lovely aroma, very strong on the hops; lingers nicely
T: roasted barley; very flavorful; hops are a very strong component (more so than other porters I've tried); intensity of flavor is more like that of a stout, one that isn't dominated by deep bass flavors

The Troegs do it again; what an amazing beer, at least in the flavor profile (where I think it counts most).

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2011 01:46:02 | More by Arithmeticus

CaptDavyJones

New York

4.22/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a really dark brown color from a 12 oz bottle, with date of and time of bottling clearly marked.
Thin film of a head, which is light tan in color, dissipates quickly.
Aroma is of roasted malts and cocoa with hints of chocolate and caramel.
Taste is similar to the aroma, malty with hints of sweetness upfront from the malts. Cocoa/dark chocolate flavors are evident with a nice lingering hop bitterness kick in the finish. Very nicely balanced porter and with the low ABV this is easy to drink.
Nice lacing along the insides of the glass.
Definitely a porter worth a try. Another good beer from Troegs.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2011 02:19:09 | More by CaptDavyJones

lovindahops

New York

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

another troegs brew that I have not had. Let's see how these two make a porter

A- cocoa body with brown lacing splashing around the glass. Looks hearty as we approach fall.

s- good coffee and chocolate scent that is tipped off some roasted malt scent. A little dark fruit even

t- all the flavors of the scent profile are on display to combine into a good porter taste. slight earthy flavors cameo in the tasting as well as that sweet dark fruit at the end

m- medium body

o- a good seasonal porter that keeps me interested. There is no doubt a sixer will make its way around these parts

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2011 17:20:46 | More by lovindahops

garuda

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Deep ruby, tan head, good retention and lacing.

S - Nice roasted malt and dark chocolate character.

T - Follows the nose, but finishes with a bit of a hop bite and lingering leafy, pine bitterness, which doesn't work so well for me in a porter.

M - Medium body, low carbonation, pretty smooth across the palate, but finishes with a hop bitterness which is a little out of character.

O - Its a decent beer, but he hops just seemed a little out of place and didn't really meld all that well with the malts.

Serving type: on-tap

09-30-2011 23:39:29 | More by garuda

xnicknj

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

on tap at good dog in philly

Pours an opaque wooden brown color with a beige head resting on top. A filmy cloud of retention rests on top with some spotty lacing on the glass.

Nutty malt and hints of caramel in the nose. Roasted tones with some sweetness and faint hops.

Light hop notes up front with some malt complexities. Roasted and layered with nuts and caramel. Some sweetness and leafy notes. Finishes a bit dry and crisp.

Medium body, decent carbonation, tingly and chewy on the tongue. A pretty solid porter, but not necessarily something I'd run out and buy again.

Serving type: on-tap

09-30-2011 06:26:41 | More by xnicknj

JMB22

New York

3.9/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It took a minute, I grabbed this out of the fridge because it was cold outside and it just felt like a porter kind of night. It poured like a porter, nice and dark with a cascading head, and it looks like a porter. It even smells a little like chocolate. WOW with the hops. Quite tasty and unexpected. This is closer to a black ale than a porter. Still a nice beer for a fall day!

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 01:28:25 | More by JMB22

smakawhat

Maryland

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A nice light tan and caramel head presented with a foamy consistency. Perhaps about three fingers. A solid walnut dark brown body. Pretty solid looking beer.

Nose is hops first of mild pleasant grapefruit citrus, standing in front of a chocolate milk sense. Sweet smelling with less emphasis on roast. Interesting example, sort of what I expect from Troegs hopping up a style a bit. I can dig this one.

Taste is roast malt and sweet grapefruit finish. Chocolate mid palate mixes with mild citrus grapefruit and surprisingly compliments well. Body has just enough cream like texture and finishes just slightly dry. Citrus hop sense takes over though as time goes on.

Overall this is not your typical porter. In many ways it comes off as an almost black/cascadian dark whatever you want to call those ipas. This is sort of what I expected from Troegs and regardless of being in style or not, it is a good solid tasting beer regardless that works.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 00:55:23 | More by smakawhat

blknikon

Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance - Definitely a darker lightly carbonated beer with a smaller off white head.

Smell - Mostly of coffee and some malts. As mentioned in other reviews I don't have the greatest nose in the world so I only get the more prominent notes.

Taste - The taste was of very smooth coffee with a hint of bitterness towards the end. An after taste of dark chocolate accompanied by traces of hops.

Mouthfeel - Not nearly as thick as expected. More of a medium body if that to be honest.

Overall - One of the more solid porters I've recently had. Very well balanced in the sense that no particular element of the beer really stood out so much it ruined the beer. An easy recommend to anyone looking for a solid, affordable porter

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2011 09:48:09 | More by blknikon