Tag Archives: porter

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December 12, 2012

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Terrapin Liquid Bliss

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Terrapin Beer Co.

Athens, GA

Liquid Bliss Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter

6.7% ABV

There are few combinations in this world I find more perfect than chocolate and peanut butter. The combination of sweet and savory is a perfect blend, in my opinion, whether it’s in cakes or candy or whatever. Chocolate and peanut butter do it for me every time.

So of course I was excited when Terrapin announced Liquid Bliss, the 18th entry in its one-off Side Project series. Using a porter base, peanut butter, boiled peanuts and cocoa nibs are added with a variety of malts and U.S. Goldings hops. All signs pointed to it being a rich, creamy chocolate and peanut butter bomb, which, of course, was a great prospect.

But reviews of the beer tempered my expectations. While some were surprised by it and others trashed it, the consensus was it fell into the “Not what I was expecting” category. That was applicable to my take on it, but that’s not a bad thing.

The pour is very deep brown with just a little bit of light coming through the top of the glass. The head was about two fingers deep and really frothy, but it settled quickly. Mild lacing and weak alcohol legs.

The chocolate sweetness is the most noticeable part of the nose. It’s more like cocoa powder than a creamy chocolate smell, but it is pretty rich. There is definitely that roasted peanut butter smell. It’s sweet and just hinted at. Not overpowering, which was a nice surprise.

There’s a bit of bitterness on the front of the tongue coupled with slight carbonation throughout the mouth. The mouthfeel is very smooth and rich. The chocolate is heavy in the middle of the mouth with an almost chocolate milk smoothness and richness. On the back, you definitely get the peanut butter as well. Like the nose, it’s there and the flavor is nice, but it’s not crazy strong. With each sip, the peanut butter becomes stronger and more noticeable. It’s kind of that lingering creaminess you get from eating a spoon of PB.

Like a lot of people, I expected a richer, more flavorful beer. But what Liquid Bliss ended up being was a more nuanced approach. I was a disappointed at first but had done a 180 by the time I finished the bottle. In the end, I’m glad it wasn’t the blast of sweetness I was expecting, as it forced you to search out and analyze the flavors within a little more.

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December 10, 2012

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EPIC/DC Brau Fermentation Without Representation

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EPIC Brewing Co. – Salt Lake City, UT

DC Brau Brewing Co. – Washington, DC

Fermentation Without Representation Imperial Pumpkin Porter

8% ABV

I know, I know. I said I was done reviewing pumpkin beers for the season and had moved on to winter seasonals. But it’s hard to pass up diving into one last pumpkin beer, especially one I’ve been on the hunt for.

As part of their Exponential Series and in collaboration with DC Brau, the first packaging brewery in the Nation’s Capitol, EPIC Brewing has put out an imperial porter crossed with a pumpkin beer. EPIC is just out of my reach, but my recent trip to Charlotte yielded a bottle for my enjoyment. I’d been hoping to get my hands on a bottle all season, especially after fellow pumpkin beer fanatic Bryan’s glowing review over on This Is Why I’m Drunk.

The beer pours a fairly thick deep, dark brown. It’s almost a black, but there’s just a hint of little getting through the top of the glass. Whatever head there was didn’t stick around for very long, migrating to the sides of the glass almost immediately. Not a lot of lacing, but the alcohol legs that stuck around were mighty nice.

The nose is exactly what I’d expect from a blend of pumpkin beers and imperial porters. There are the standard spices – cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc. – but they’re a bit muted. Instead, a roasted pumpkin seed scent is very strong, coupled with the roasted dark coffee notes from the porter. There’s also a thick sweetness over everything. There’s a thick almost chocolate syrup smell with big hints of caramel.

At first sip, I thought if you hadn’t told me this was a pumpkin beer, I wouldn’t have noticed. And then the finish came around, and it was most certainly a pumpkin beer. A roasted bitterness greets you first on the taste, followed with milky smooth mouthfeel and just a smidge of carbonation. The flavors in the middle of the mouth are a mix of black coffee and dark chocolate, melded perfectly together. The pumpkin used in the brewing lends a luscious mouthfeel that incredibly smooth.

As I said, the “pumpkin” in this pumpkin beer really flourishes on the finish. There’s cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and clove. But again, unlike many other pumpkin beers, it’s subdued and muted a bit by the chocolate from the porter. It’s a really a perfect blend and something I haven’t gotten before in other pumpkin beers.

Instead of using a lighter-bodied beer as the base and letting the spices shine through, the use of an imperial porter base is a nice touch and a good alternative. It’s certainly a porter first and foremost, but the pumpkin pie spices you’d expect are also pretty strong, working well to balance one another. Like Elysian‘s Dark O’ the Moon – a pumpkin stout – it uses the spices as a way to add a twist to an already great base beer instead of just blasting you with them. A good way to end the pumpkin beer season, if I say so myself.

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November 9, 2012

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The Beers of Mother Earth, Part 2

Welcome back! The other day I went through about half the box of Mother Earth beers that ended up on my doorstep a few weeks back. Today, I make my way through the rest of that box.

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Second Wind is one of two canned beers Mother Earth produces. This one is a 5.2% pale ale that’s not that impressive, but still a solid entry into the style.

The color is a really hazy sunset yellowish color. There’s a weak head as with the others. Lacing’s a bit stronger on it but the alcohol legs are still weak.

There’s a sort of weak pine and citrus hint on the nose. Slight citrus with orange juice and tangerine being kind of noticeable with a bit of a maltiness to it, too. Nothing really stands out, though.

The taste starts with a slight bitterness on the front of the tongue. The carbonation’s pretty good throughout the mouth. The orange flavor is very pronounced on the back with a lingering piney hoppiness. There’s a bit of a biscuity hop character that lingers as well. Kind of a cracker taste on the finish, too. Not the best pale ale I’ve had, but certainly not the worst.

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The alliteration-happy Weeping Willow Witis a spicy Belgian-style wit beer that clocks in at 5%. It’s got that classic Belgian wit appearance, with a slightly hazy deeper straw yellow color. There’s about two fingers of a big, foamy head on top that dissipates pretty quickly. Really nice lacing around the edges and just some slight alcohol legs.

I’ve been told this wasn’t supposed to be a funk-forward beer, but when I took a whiff, I got a big barnyard funk on the nose. It was very pungent and musty and really biting, but not in an infected sort of way. There’s a good soft wheat flavor on the back with a little orange and coriander, but just slightly.

There’s just a very mild  citrus bite on the front of the tongue followed up with a very smooth and rich flavor across the palate with just some mild carbonation through the mouth. The finish is very deep and rich with a big hit of coriander and orange peel on the back. There’s a very slight citrus bite that sticks to the back of the tongue. Overall, it’s incredibly drinkable.

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One of the beers I was the most excited to try was Old Neighborhood, their 5.5% oatmeal porter. I wasn’t disappointed with the result.

It poured a deep, dark brown color. There was a little bit of light getting through the top. It had a filmy brownish head that disappeared as quickly as it was poured. The lacing also fell off quickly but there were some nice alcohol legs that held on.

On the nose is a light roastiness. The maltiness had kind of sweet, nutty malt character to it and a sort of plum sweetness. No hoppiness. Just a mild nose all around.

The taste is much better than the nose. It starts off with a big bite of bitterness on the front of the tongue. There’s moderate carbonation but a sort of lighter mouthfeel. The first flavor to pop up on the back is a syrupy dark chocolate flavor that gives way to a mild roasted flavor that lingers nicely. There’s a good bit of a hop bite on the back as well.

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Last but not least is Sunny Haze, a 5% Americanized twist on the classic German hefeweizen. The color is a bit clearer than you’d expect from a hefe, but still had that hazy straw yellow appearance. There was a finger of a light head that settled fairly quickly. Weak lacing but nice looking alcohol legs.

The nose is more of less a classic hefe. Bananas, cloves and bubblegum are all present with a sweet wheat character and maybe a little candied fruit and honey as well

There was a slight tart bite on the front of the tongue, mild carbonation and a sweet and rich mouthfeel. The bananas and bubblegum were really strong on the end, and it finishes with a honey and sweet wheat note that lingers nicely.

All in all, not one of these beer disappointed. I’d put Dark Cloud, Sisters of the Moon and Weeping Willow at the top and Sunny Haze, Second Wind and Endless River toward the bottom, but none of them were bad. If anything, they just made me even more jealous that they’re all just out of reach. (Can we fix that, Mother Earth?)

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November 1, 2012

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Evil Twin Lil’ B

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Evil Twin Brewing

Valby, Denmark/Brooklyn, NY

Lil’ B Imperial Porter

11.5% ABV

I’ve generally been happy with the stuff Evil Twin – the gypsy brewing pseudonym of Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergø – has been putting out for the past couple years. While it’s sometimes hard to get past the sticker shock when it comes to prices, the beer is solid and at times – in cases such as Soft Dookie, Imperial Biscotti Break and Femme Fatale Brett – stellar.

Even better, Evil Twin’s been setting up shop in Mt. Pleasant recently, brewing up a growing number of beers at Westbrook, including Lil’ B, the 11.5% imperial porter you see pictured above. I’d had the chance to try a nip before, but after getting a bottle of my own and sitting down to really break it down, it’s one of those beers I think joins the “stellar” ranks of their catalog.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the beer pours black as night, with absolutely no light getting through. The pour was that great thick, viscous motor oil consistency. The head is more like a film of a foamy brown that gravitates toward the edges of the glass fast. Some slight lacing but epic alcohol legs that go for weeks.

The nose is anything but lil’. Massive bitter coffee and espresso, dark chocolate, vanilla, hints of cherry, plums, caramel, black licorice, nuts, even a sort of cookie sweetness to it as well. There’s almost a bourbon-like quality to it from the booze. Epic is the only way to describe how this thing smells.

There’s just a very mild bitterness on the front of the tongue but it’s canceled out quickly as it’s smooth as velvet across the palate. In the middle of the mouth is a big dark cherry tartness the tingles on the tongue. On the back, there’s a giant sweeter dark chocolate and a bitter black coffee taste. It’s balanced nicely and works well to keep everything in check. The tartness pops up again on the end with a black cherry kind of quality to it. The alcohol is certainly there but it’s masked with the abundant sweetness of everything else.

Lil’ B is a certainly a sipper and a sharer. At times, it’s a bit overly sweet, especially as it warms. But at the same time, the little hints of all the flavors that go into it pop up more and more as you drink it. The sweetness gives way to the tartness gives way to the roasted qualities and so on. It’s unique and more than lives up to the “imperial” tag. Anything but lil’ in every way.

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October 22, 2012

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Help Name Westbrook’s 2nd Anniversary Beer

The fine folks at Westbrook want your help in naming their second anniversary beer.

Starting today, you can submit your suggestions for what the Mt. Pleasant-based brewery should dub their next anniversary release, which will be released in December. According to the brewery’s latest newsletter, the beer will be an imperial black lager they’ve decided to call Imperial Baltic Stout. (BJCP guidelines be damned.)

More details about the beer will be announced as the release nears, but for now, head over to the brewery’s Facebook page and vote in their online poll.

And now, a moment to reflect on Mexican Cake, their outstanding first anniversary beer:

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July 23, 2012

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Stone Smoked Porter (Original, w/ Vanilla Bean, w/ Chipotle Peppers)

Stone Brewing Co.

San Diego, CA

Smoked Porter (w/ Vanilla Bean and w/ Chipotle Peppers)

5.9% ABV

I’m quick to pick up anything new that Stone puts out. I’m usually at the store the week something new comes out to pick it up, and it doesn’t usually last long in my fridge. And when it comes to their year-round slate, I’ve had everything before, and multiple times at that.

Except for one: their 5.9% Smoked Porter.

It was always one of those beers I’d see and think, “Maybe I should pick it up this time,” but I never did. I wasn’t against trying it – I love porters and smoked beer – but I just never bothered to grab a bottle. Of course, now that Stone’s gone and made two new variations of the beer, it was the perfect time to finally pick it up.

The names of the beers speak for themselves. The brewery took the base of Smoked Porter and added fresh vanilla beans in one batch and chipotle peppers in the other. Both variations have been available on tap and cask at the brewery for a while, but this is the first time they’ve bottled them.

The pour on all three is the same: A very deep, dark brown verging on a black, with a finger of a bubbly head that dissipates quickly, along with some mild lacing and nice alcohol legs.

On the original, the nose has a big campfire smoke with a little bit of bacon and smoked meats to. There’s sort of a very dull sweetness on the back, like a really dark chocolate or cocoa. The vanilla bean on that variation hits strong. There’s more smoke at first but the vanilla really shines as it warms. Same with the chipotle. It’s really smokey at first but there’s a lot more heat as it warms up.

The smoke absolutely explodes on the tongue on the original. There’s a huge lingering smoked wood taste. It’s verging on a rauch beer but slightly more subdued. Dark chocolate is present on the back as well as a definite espresso or dark coffee too. At just under 6%, it’s a much lighter and easy drinking porter.

On the vanilla bean variation, that same smokiness is what’s present at first, but the fresh vanilla bean just explodes on the back end. It lingers for a good long while, too. It’s a good clean vanilla tasty, not overly sweet or artificial. Same with the chipotle. The smoke and the peppers blend together perfectly. The heat is very present, but not overpowering, and it becomes a lot more prevalent as it warms.

The consensus among reviews that I’ve seen is that the vanilla bean variation is the better of the two, but I lean a little more toward the chipotle version. I generally hate chipotle beers, but the smoke and the heat on this one was perfect and extremely enjoyable. The vanilla bean was definitely great as well, and the sweetness of the beans mixed with the smoke was a great idea.

If you’re like me and haven’t picked up the original yet, now is the perfect time to try it.