[BW] Beer Blog

I’m going to deviate from my normal format and instead do a few quick reviews of some awesome brews I had last weekend.

Casked Deschutes Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond Pale Ale
This cask-conditioned ale I had at Deschutes’ new Public House in the Pearl District of Portland. As a huge fan of cask-conditioned ales, this didn’t disappoint. Much, much smoother than regular Mirror Pond with a way higher floral aroma. I could have drank this all night if I had the opportunity. A colleague of mine also enjoyed it, which was surprising since he doesn’t really like regular Mirror Pond.

Block 15 Chocolate Porter
Block 15 is a brewery and brew pub in Corvallis, OR that I haven’t even remotely written enough about. Block 15 has quickly become one of my favorite breweries period and definitely my favorite brew pub. Their Chocolate Porter was exactly what it claims to be. Very similar to Rogue’s chocolate stout offering, yet just a tad thinner in body. Definitely grab a pint while it’s still available.

Block 15 Ridgeback Red
Ridgeback Red is one of Block 15’s standard offerings and has claimed quite a bit of success as a beer almost everybody will enjoy. This red takes the standard west coast twist on reds in that it leans much more towards hoppy than malty. I had the opportunity to enjoy this from a pony keg that Josh from The Oregon Wine Blog brought to a recent show our rock band played. If you want to play it safe visiting Block 15 for your first time, then perhaps consider ordering a pint of Ridgeback Red.

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Brewery: Full Sail Brewery
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: A- (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.89 (98th percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

I have mixed feelings about Full Sail. On one hand they have a commitment to sustainability rivaled by few and have a completeley seperate brewery just to brew their top-tier brews. On the other hand they brew a lot of boring, completely uninspired brews. They even have a brewing contract with Miller to brew some of their smaller produced beers, such as Henry’s Organic Pale Ale. I guess I think of them as a macro micro brewery.

That aside, I’m a big fan of bourbon-inspired porters and stouts. This brew immediately stood out to me on the shelf as something I absolutely had to try. Will Full Sail redeem themselves somewhat? First, let’s see what this one is all about:

Top Sail was aged for about 10 months in bourbon casks from Kentucky. This aging presents hints of chocolate, figs, and oak to this amplified robust porter. Deep black in color, it has a raosy malt flavor and a rich malt sweetness that’s smooth and drinkable. A hearty cellar beer.

Appearance - About as dark of a brown as you can get. Not much light gets through either. A good finger’s worth of tan head is left upon pouring.

Smell - Bourbon definitely shines through, but not in an overwhelming way. Hues of chocolate and malt also come through as well.

Taste - Much more balanced than Oregon Trail’s attempt. This isn’t to say that Full Sail’s is necessarily better, but Top Sail is much closer to a porter that uses bourbon to add to the experience. My nose tagged this one perfectly as chocolate and malt are also very apparent. Surprisingly, even at 9.85% ABV, the alcohol isn’t very apparent.

All in all I’d say pick this one up if you’re into porters or darker ales brewed with bourbon. If bourbon turns you off then you can probably skip this one. While this is definitely a delicious brew, I think it got more hype than it deserved.

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Brewery: Oregon Trail Brewery
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: B (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.68 (93rd percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

It has been entirely too long since my last post, so to make up for my absence I am reviewing a beer that I’ve wanted to try for quite some time. The Oregon Trail Brewery is a small, local brewery in Corvallis, Oregon mostly notable for their Wit. However, they also brew a slew of other beers and one just happens to be a bourbon porter.

The bottle itself is dipped in red wax and a price tag (almost $12) that easily scares off the weak of heart. I’m not intimidated though, as I love huge porters and stouts. From their site:

Oregon Trail Bourbon Barrel Porter is as big as the West, masterfully brewed in the true pioneer spirit. This robust porter is aged in Kentucky oak bourbon barrels. The result is a pitch-black brew, rich with oaky smoothness, bold bourbonesque aroma, with hints of fruit and vanilla.

Sounds delicious. Let’s find out!

Appearance - While not absolutely pitch black as advertised, not much light gets through this one. One can easily tell that it’s clearly a porter and not a stout. A couple fingers worth of tan head also appear upon pouring.

Smell - I smelled bourbon the second I popped the cap. Upon getting my nose in there, I was bombarded with a whole ton more of bourbon. I’ve had bourbon-inspired beers before, but none greet you like this one. Behind the bourbon is a little bit of vanilla tagging along for the ride.

Taste - This beer is exactly what it says it is. This is no ordinary porter by any means. The bourbon taste is immediately apparent, as is the vanilla. Only after the initial taste dissipates are you reminded that this is a porter. I have to say that I expected this to be a porter first and not the other way around, but Oregon Trail made an incredibly delicious and unique brew. Take your time with this one too as the 11% abv will knock you on your butt.

I highly recommend getting your hands on this if you can.

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Brewery: Laurelwood
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: B+
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.47 (83rd percentile)
Serving: 12oz Bottle

I’ve been holding onto this one for quite some time. While Laurelwood’s attempt at a winter warmer didn’t exactly blow me away, I’m giving them a second chance with their organic Tree Hugger Porter.

Tree Hugger Porter features a rich chocolate malt flavor that finishes dry and roasty. Delicate hop flavor rounds out this rich full-bodied ale. This beer is brewed with 100% Organically-grown malt.

While Laurelwood’s website doesn’t have much to say about this porter, hopefully I will. Let’s find out!

Appearance - Very dark brown, yet not dark enough to absorb all light. The consistency looks closer to a brown ale in that it’s viscosity isn’t as thick as other porters. Pours a very think, tan head that dissipates within half a minute.

Smell - Very apparent coffee, chocolate, and malt hues. Almost smells similar to other coffee porters.

Taste - Very delicious brew! I can’t think of anything this brew does that is incredibly unique, however, I find this completely dismissible as it’s the only organic porter of this kind I have found so far. Think of this as an organic Black Butte Porter turned to 11. This beer is a huge step for organic beer fans out there as we now have a world-class porter to choose from. Pick this one up if you can find it.

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Brewery: Hale’s
Style: Imperial Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: B+
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.24 (65th percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

In the state of Washington, Hale’s is pretty popular due to their ESB. I hadn’t tried any of their other brews, or even seen any others for that matter, so picking up their Troll Porter was an easy decision.

When you set out to make a beer that’s gonna keep a troll happy, it better have a lot to chew on. This one does. Troll Porter pushes the porter category to a new edge–big, complex, quite black with herbal hop influences–enough to keep that grouchy old troll off your back, at least for a while…

Is this beer insinuating that it’s going to make me a happy troll? Sounds good to me!

Appearance - Jet black, but not as thick as an imperial stout. Almost no head shows aside from a ring of white lace.

Smell - Smells of malt, rich chocolate, and even slightly hoppy. Smells sweet, but not overwhelming.

Taste - I’m kind of surprised as the first thing I noticed about this brew is the alcohol content. Bitter chocolate and roasted coffee flavors shine through, but not overwhelmingly. The mouth feel is also not as thick as I expected. I’ve honestly never had a porter with this much of an alcohol kick, so this is a new experience for me.

All in all this is good for a porter, but not outstanding. I definitely understand the happy part due to the alcohol content. I don’t know how high it is, but I would guess around 10% or so. Pick this one up if you’re a fan of imperial style porters, otherwise you may be somewhat left wanting more.

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Brewery: Kona Brewing Company
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: 85
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.46 (82nd percentile)
Serving: 12oz Bottle

This one has been staring back at me from my local grocery store’s beer section for quite some time. I had heard some great things about Kona from friends and coffee porters are right up my alley, so now was the perfect time to give them a try.

Before I get to the beer itself, I’d like to share some intel I’ve gathered about the Kona Brewing Company since this is the first brew of theirs I have tried. What immediately stood out to me as cool is that the company started in 1994 as a father and son operation. Also notable, and quite obvious, is that this is a Hawaiian company. I have to plead ignorance as I’m not well versed in the Hawaiian micro brew scene, but it’s great to see their brews hitting the mainland.

Pre-pouring note - Hey! The bottoms of the bottle caps teach you Hawaiian vocabulary! I’m not just drinking, I’m learning.

Appearance - Jet black, yet not very viscous. A one finger lace appeared upon pouring, yet dissipated quickly. I’m kind of surprised how watery this pours compared to other porters.

Smell - Wow, all coffee! This is about the closest I’ve ever smelled akin to an iced coffee. I don’t smell anything else coming through, so hopefully this doesn’t mean it’s a poor porter being covered up with an abundance of coffee.

Taste - Whoa, tons of coffee. Kona certainly wasn’t kidding when they promoted this as a coffee porter. This is definitely tasty, however I enjoy Midnight Sun’s Arctic Rhino Porter more. Even with that said, this is definitely the best coffee-inspired beer I have purchased from a 12oz bottle. I’d also like to point out that this beer is VERY drinkable. One can easily drink this as fast as a regular iced coffee as the alcohol content isn’t apparent at all. Kona’s website also described its reliance on malts perfectly. I didn’t taste any level of hops coming through, however apparently Kona tries to round it out with a mild hoppiness.

All in all this was a pretty good find. I’m growing more and more pleased with the variety of beers showing up in regular supermarkets and this is definitely a step in the right direction. I don’t know if this is as easily accessible in your area, but pick up a six pack if it is.

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Brewery: Midnight Sun Brewing
Style: Porter
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: 85
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.55 (87th Percentile)
Serving: 22oz Bottle

This brew was actually spotted by my sister during my last trip to University Market. Going into this I knew absolutely nothing about this brew nor the Midnight Sun Brewery. Before I get into the review, let’s learn something together!

The Midnight Sun Brewing Company is a brewery out of Alaska. Apparently the only two states you can find their brews are Alaska and Oregon. I guess folks up in Alaska are fully aware of Oregonian’s obsession with great beer. According to their website they brew nine “regular” beers and additionally seven they call the “Seven Deadly BeeRs.” These brews are one offs and supposed to be absolutely ridiculous in style. Let’s see how their coffee porter holds up to my taste buds.

Color - As dark as brown can get before it is black. Only a very thin lace of a tan head shows.

Smell - Has all the smells of a regular porter, but with a very large hue of burnt coffee and espresso. This smells like it’s going to be fun.

Taste - Oh yeah, bring on the coffee! The mouthfeel of this brew is very smooth and almost creamy. Instantly you taste the infusion of a great porter and a LOT of coffee/espresso. The taste lasts all the way until the next sip, so expect to taste coffee for a while.

Going into this I didn’t think it would be possible for anybody to brew a more delicious coffee-inspired beer than Lagunita’s Cappuccino Stout, but I think I enjoy this one more. Perhaps the reason has something to do with Arctic Rhino’s lower alcohol content and my wanting to drink this at the same pace I drink coffee. Either way it is very delicious and a great coffee-inspired porter.

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