Coal Creek Porter
Big Time Brewery & Alehouse

Coal Creek PorterCoal Creek Porter
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From:
Big Time Brewery & Alehouse
 
Washington, United States
Style:
American Porter
Ranked #388
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
83
Ranked #23,587
Avg:
3.62 | pDev: 9.94%
Reviews:
20
Ratings:
30
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 11, 2022
Added:
Aug 20, 2003
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of Pivopijak
Reviewed by Pivopijak from Washington

3.94/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
draught
Very sustained, thick and rocky, tan head, with lots of lasting lacing, up the side of the glass. Hard to tell but it's clear. The look is also very dark caramel and chestnut brown, with a tiny bit of light, making its' way through the glass. Lots of rich, smooth really dark roasted grain aroma with an accent of coffee and cocoa, just a touch. Medium light bodied, for a porter. Straight forward, moderate level of dark roasted grain, with a little bit of woodiness, that gives it a little bite.
May 11, 2022
Photo of mactrail
Reviewed by mactrail from Washington

3.89/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Darkly rich and grainy black brew. Very dark brown in color with a modest foam in the tall Timmermans goblet. Sprightly carbonation on the tongue. Nice roasted aromas.

The mouthfeel is robust with lots of malt and some sweet flavors. The roasted malt is bludgeoned by the charred grains, but it doesn't go over to the sourish charcoal side. There is a distinctly bitter finish. Mouthfilling flavor and that malt stays with you. Scratchy aftertaste like burnt toast.

This is quite drinkable and pretty much covers all the bases for a Porter. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Big Time's northeast Seattle brewpub.
Dec 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by Eighty from Washington

Jan 09, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by mdaschaf from Indiana

Sep 13, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Smurf2055 from Washington

Jul 15, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by worstfisherman1 from Florida

Jul 04, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by jmccraney from Washington

Jan 17, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by irishgreensoda from Washington

Dec 01, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by t0rin0 from California

Aug 23, 2012
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.68/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a coal color with a reasonably impressive, though surprisingly light colored head; lots of splashy lace though the retention could be better

Smell: Caramel, roast and chocolate, with some burnt edges; grainy, too, with the hop aromatics peeking through

Taste: Opens roasty and grainy, with caramel, chocolate and a bit of charcoal; by mid-palate, the hops impress the palate (this is a Pacific NW beer, after all); the chocolate returns in the finish, along with a hint of dark fruit

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation; slightly aqueous

Overall: Like the fact that this is sessionable and is very good in that context; ranked against the usual porters it comes up short on flavor but I am always on the lookout for flavorful session beers; if I had my druthers it migcut back a touch on the hops and notch up the chocolate, however

Thanks, glkaiser (from the other site), for the opportunity
Jul 15, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by strongaf from Washington

Jun 08, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by avaldivia from California

Mar 27, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

Feb 17, 2012
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

3.88/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had this beer on tap in the alehouse, served in a pint glass.

Appearance: very dark brown bordering on black with a thin layer of tan foam. Not bad.

Smell: light nutty caramelly aroma. Interesting but too light.

Taste: nice malt flavor. Caramelly with a light roastiness and a touch of tartness. Balancing bitterness.

Mouthfeel: medium body with decent carbonation. Works well for a porter.

Overall: Coal Creek is a classic one for me. Just a great dark session brew.
Aug 04, 2011
Photo of Adrianized
Reviewed by Adrianized from Connecticut

3.33/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Received as a local extra in a trade.  Poured into a snifter.

Appears black, dark brown when held to the light.  Pours very thin.  One finger head tan head which settles down.  Okay lacing.

Nose is subdued.  There's. Smokiness, molasses, and caramel malt.

Again molasses, caramel.  Big roasted malt backbone.  Almost a malt bomb.  Some weird cured meat taste going on.  Aftertaste is malty and a smokey bitterness, which I'm not liking too much.

Much thinner for the style than I prefer.  Good carbonation.  A porter I could drink in the summer.

Overall this is an average porter, nothing I would seek out again.  But, I always enjoy tasting others' local brews!
Jun 27, 2011
Photo of LXIXME
Reviewed by LXIXME from New Mexico

3.28/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a deep brown almost black color, with a big rich light brown head.
Slight coffee with more of the sweet malts coming through in the aroma.
The taste wasn't up to the aroma, decent malts with hints of the coffee coming through, not a rich and full tasting as the aroma would suggest.
Leaves a light milky feel in the after taste.
All in all not a bad porter, but not up to the Oregon and Washington state standards we've seen in so many of their beers.
Sep 05, 2009
Photo of clickpush
Reviewed by clickpush from Pennsylvania

2.82/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2.5
Poured from 22oz bomber to wide mouth glass. Dark brown body w/ a small off white head that disappears quickly, leaving absolutely no residual head, barely anything around the outside of the glass. Can't see any carbonation inside either.

Nose is somewhat richer than I would expect. More like raisin and other dried fruit. Not getting roast malt at all. Some butterscotch.

From the name I would expect a bone dry, super roasty flavor. Instead I'm met with an acrid acidity that overpowers the malt body. There is coffee flavor in the finish but it doesn't make up for the weak showing from the rest of the beer. The mouth feel is one redeeming quality - for the style and especially for the alcohol content, this beer is light and well carbonated.

I had high hopes for this one but it didn't live up.
Jul 11, 2009
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.63/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Sessionable porter that's well malted, with chocolate malts,and so quite drinkable. Hops are secondary but there. Black with moderate white head. Aroma of mild roast.Not too coffeeish but there was some acidity that's somewat masked by all the malting. Well balanced and satisfying. Medium mouthfeel.
Mar 02, 2008
Photo of RedDiamond
Reviewed by RedDiamond from Oregon

3.92/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Big Time bottles four of their mainstay beers. I purchased two and drank a bomber of this porter the day following my visit. Coal Creek starts with a strong chocolate malt aroma and taste with ample roastiness. Though it momentarily teeters upon a charred flavor, it is reasonably sweet overall. At first, the beer came in short in the finish. But as it warmed, a long smoky tail unfurled.

The beer is dark brown with minimal, thready lace. I tried shining a flashlight through it to evoke some ruby highlights, but not a chance. The dark, penetrating depths of Coal Creek devoured the full output of my flashlight. It was like shining a light through a rock. One isle of suspended beige suds held the shape of Australia for most of my session. (A bonus.)

A well tuned beer. Not overbearing. And they say it won a GABF gold medal in 2006 under an assumed name.
Feb 25, 2008
Photo of dnichols
Reviewed by dnichols from Washington

3.33/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
I shared a bottle with a few beer buddies while we tasted a few porters after work.

A: It poured a very dark black body with tinges of cola hues and a slender tan head that supported moderate lacing.

S: The aromas were difficult to detect, however, aggressive swirling resulted in roasted malts and slightly pungent herbal hops.

T: It had a thin sweet roasted malt flavor with an astringent somewhat sour back flavor that gave off hints of coffee.

M: It a was medium bodied and smooth with a moderate corbonation and sour finish and aftertaste.

D: The pungent aroma was off-putting as was the thinness and lack of distinct rich flavors. A good, not great porter.
Feb 01, 2008
Coal Creek Porter from Big Time Brewery & Alehouse
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 30 ratings