Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Deep, dark brown. Off-white, tan rocky head. Nice lacing, nice-looking beer.

AROMA: 3/4
Coffee, roast aromas. Dark chocolate, subtle sweetness. Vanilla, maybe? Simple, basic. Roast.

TASTE: 6.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Coffee, chocolatey. No hop flavor, appropriately. Roast is dominant, some hop bitterness.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Lots of bitter roast, roast bitter + hop bitter = maybe a bit much bitter.
Mouth-Feel: 1.75/3: A big light-bodied, could use more hop. Appropriately carbonated, but thin.

OVERALL: 2/3: A very light beer, a nice session porter, just a tad watery. Roast flavors are nice, an okay beer.

TOTAL: 14.25/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Try this, if only because it (and their Mirror Pond Pale) are the cheapest bombers in town. Not perfect, but good in many ways and worth a try.
Ben: Typical porter, a little too watery, but at $2.99 a bomber, you can't afford NOT to try it. Adding smoked malt might make this more interesting.

Founders Porter

Founders Brewing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Black-opaque. Brown espresso head, nice lacing.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Chocolate, heavy roast. Some coffee aromas. Rich, silky, maybe a bit smoky? Dark and mysterious.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Baker's/dark chocolate. Bitter roast at finish. Sweet up-front, no hop.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Roasty bitterness lasts. Smoky, burnt toast, burnt coffee at finish.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Full, for the most part. Complex. Lots of roast going on; falls out quickly at finish.

OVERALL: 2/3: Roast flavors are overwhelming. Burnt toast, roasted dark coffee, baker's chocolate—this is a DARK beer.

TOTAL: 15/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Smoky, roasty, a good porter. Not quite as good as their breakfast stout, but that's a high bar—a solid, smoky porter.

Ben: Complex roasted flavors. I would pair this with smoked turkey, gouda or a nice smoked cheddar. Also makes a nice after-dinner beer.

Grand Teton Wake Up Call Imperial Coffee Porter

Grand Teton Brewing Company
Victor, Idaho

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Dark brown. Pretty espresso-colored, rocky head that lasts and laces.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Nice burnt coffee/burnt toast aroma, semi-sweet chocolate. Coffee nose.

TASTE: 8.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.25/4: Baker's chocolate, coffee, burnt toast. Lots of complex roasted malt, little hop flavor.
Aftertaste: 2.5/3: Roast coffee aftertaste, bitterness lingers.
Mouth-Feel: 2.5/3: Silky-smooth, full roast, coffee feel.

OVERALL: 2.75/3: Wow—a really nice example of the style. Did we mention, coffee? Dark roast, chocolate. Pair with steak, roast beef, that sort of thing.

TOTAL: 16.75/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Tasty! Coffee, mocha. Smooth, a bit sweet, and bitter in all the right places. Another nice offering from the good people at Grand Teton.
Ben: A good dessert beer, pair it with vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, cheesecake—wherever you would have coffee.

Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Breckenridge Brewing Company
Denver, Colorado

APPEARANCE: 2/3
Dark brown to mahogany. Clear. Thin white head.

AROMA: 2.5/4
Sweet and malty nose. No real hop aroma. Slight vanilla.

TASTE: 5/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 2/4: Malty. Roasty malt flavors up front. Some vanilla. Slight hop bitterness but no appreciable hop flavor or aroma as appropriate for style. Could use stronger roast and more pronounced flavors.
Aftertaste: 1.5/3: Lingering vanilla and roasted malt. Slight hop bitterness but weak. Sour notes.
Mouth-Feel: 1.5/3: Watery and thin. Weak carbonation.

OVERALL: 1.5/3
Weak for a porter - almost more along the lines of a brown. Lacks strong roast and chocolate notes we expect in a porter. Too weak and thin. Not robust.

TOTAL: 11/20–Anything Else On Tap?

NOTES:
Matt: I like that the vanilla is present; don't like much else. Another disappointment from Breckenridge.
Ben: This is really a brown, not a porter, and a weak thin brown at that. None of the more robust roast and chocolate flavors I was expecting. This beer has so much promise but fails to deliver on anything. Did Sam Adams make this?

Boulevard Bully Porter

Boulevard Brewing Company
Kansas City, MO

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Thick,espresso-colored head. Nice and foamy that lasts. Opaque brown, almost black color.

AROMA: 2/4
Surprisingly little aroma. Subtly roasty, smoky, nutty maybe?

TASTE: 6.5/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 2.75/4: Very little hop flavor - roasted malt is the word of the day. Very little malt sweetness.
Aftertaste: 1.75/3: Subtle smoke, roasted malt is dominant. Slight chocolate. Burnt coffee taste at end.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Fairly full-bodied. Bitter finish. A bit chewy.

OVERALL: 2/3: It's a very roasty porter. A decent offering. Some of the more complex flavors we were expecting were absent.

TOTAL: 13/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Not bad. A sort of one-note porter. All roasted malt, little else. Better than some other Boulevard standards.
Ben: Tastes like a porter for the masses. Could use more chocolate or smoked malt for a more interesting beer.

Left Hand Fade to Black, Vol. 2—Smoked Baltic Porter

*Note: Fade to Black is a series; each year the bottle is the same, but the contents change. Each year's beer is noted in relatively small type on the neck label.

Left Hand Brewing Company
Longmont, Colorado

APPEARANCE: 2/3
Deep mahogany color. Opaque. Nice espresso head that faded fast, tiny bubbles.

AROMA: 3/4
Roasty–subtle smoky nose, burnt coffee, dark chocolate. No discernible hop aroma.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 2.75/4: Hop bitterness at front. Malty. Chocolate, subtle prune. Could use more hop bitterness.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Sourness that fades to a roasted, nutty finish. Smoky.
Mouth-Feel: 2.25/3: Full mouth. Noticeable sour tones, but not puckering.

OVERALL: 2.25/3: A mostly standard dark porter, though the sourness gives it a twist. One quibble with the branding–it's not well expressed that this is part of a series, something that changes from year to year. If you miss the type on the neck label, you might overlook that this isn't last year's beer.

TOTAL: 14.5/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: I like it as much as any porter I've had recently, but it's not mind-blowing (admission: I'm not a huge fan of the style).
Ben: A good porter, could use more smoky flavor. This was a disappointment after last year's excellent stout.

Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter

Great Divide Brewing Company
Denver, Colorado

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Dark, reddish brown. Nice thin, creamy head.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Smoky, like bacon on the griddle.

TASTE: 7.5/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.5/4: Smoke dominant. Malty, minimal hop. Nicely balanced.
Aftertaste: 2.75/3: Bacony, meaty. Woody aftertaste. Starts out sweet, fades to smoky finish.
Mouth-Feel: 2.75/3: Smooth. Smoke flavor is dominant. Very little bittering hop.

OVERALL: 2.5/3: A great smoked beer–unique, rugged yet smooth.

TOTAL: 17.25/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Delightful–makes you think of being on the open range. Really a treat.
Ben: Lots of smoked aroma and flavor, a great fall beer. Reminds me of sitting around a campfire.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Chico, California

APPEARANCE: 3/3
Deep mahogany. Big cream-colored head. Crisp. Pretty!

AROMA: 3.5/4
Coffee notes, caramel, chocolate. Roasted nuttiness notes. Little hop aroma.

TASTE: 8.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.5/4: Hoppy, roasty, malty. Similar to a porter. More hoppy than a typical brown.
Aftertaste: 2.5/3: Bitter from the middle to end. Sweet and malty up front that fades nicely to a bitter finish. Crisp roasted flavor.
Mouth-Feel: 2.75/3: Full mouth feel. Dark caramel notes. Roasted nutty flavors - hazelnut? Subtle smokiness. Grassy hop feel.

OVERALL: 2.75/3: A dark hoppy brown. Almost could be considered a porter. A good Autumn beer.

TOTAL: 18/20–Keep 'Em Comin'

NOTES:
Matt: As good a brown as I've had in a long time. Hoppy enough, smoky, full-bodied. Nice. Nice label too.
Ben: I'd buy a six. Something you'd enjoy around a campfire on a crisp October evening camping. This would be good paired with smoked poultry or a broccoli/potato/beer cheese soup.