Sustainable Porter
Brooklyn Brewery

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From:
Brooklyn Brewery
 
New York, United States
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
5.2%
Score:
91
Avg:
4.15 | pDev: 7.23%
Reviews:
23
Ratings:
23
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 09, 2006
Added:
Oct 05, 2003
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of HimerMan
Reviewed by HimerMan from New Jersey

4.12/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On tap at the House of Brews, NYC. (This is from my notes, last year)

I found this beer right before leaving, as it was "hidden" on the back page of their extensive beer list.

Pour - awesome dark brown with a medium greyed/smoked tan color and excellent smoky aroma.

Taste - very sweet, and a bit like charred chocolate if someone were to grill cocoa beans and them make them into beer (in a good way),

Overall - A definite must have beer for people who enjoy porters and stouts alike - as Brooklyn's BrewMaster Garrett Oliver does a tremendous job making solid brews.

Definitely worth a try, not sure if this is still around though.
May 09, 2006
Photo of SaCkErZ9
Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

4.08/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a pitch black with a cappucino head that is very fluffy and frothy. Nice lacing down the side of the glass as well.

Smells of chocolate and coffee. Notes of caramel in there as well. No hops aroma.

Very smooth tasting. Definite coffee flavors as well as a dark chocolate bitterness as well. The bitterness of the chocolate malts goes well with the the light coffee flavor. Tastes as smooth as an oatmeal porter with the body to boot. One drawback; seems a bit watered down. The great flavors mask it a bit, but the body and flavor are just a little watered down. Nothing major though.

A very good porter. Extremely drinkable on any occasion. I will definitely have to sample this beverage again in the near future.
Nov 08, 2005
Photo of ChowHound
Reviewed by ChowHound from New York

3.93/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
I am really starting to like the stouts and porters. Brooklyn's is deep dark brown, almost black. The head is a milk chocolate foam and it sticks around a long times. Smell isn't very big. Some yeast esters and a hint of caramel. Its smooth drinking, with a round full bodied palate and some roasty, chocolate characteristics. Could use some more seasoning in the way of hops, but this one is dangerously drinkable.
Mar 26, 2005
Photo of brewandbbq
Reviewed by brewandbbq from New Hampshire

3.8/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On tap at Redbones, a leftover from the previous nights Stout and Porter dinner..
Dark brown with crimson tinging, minimal tan head.
Caramel,cocoa,some roast in the nose,maybe a hint of black licorice.
Medium bitterness,thinnish body,-tasty though.
Dark chocolate,caramel, roasted malts, slight coffee,subtle fruitiness.
Finishes nicely, complexities shine through.
Not a huge Porter, but enjoyable enough.
Could be really good on cask.
Mar 23, 2005
Photo of GeoffFromSJ
Reviewed by GeoffFromSJ from New Jersey

3.87/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Sampled at the Brooklyn Brewery during a day of pubcrawling through Brooklyn. Poured dark like a stout. No head; minimal lacing. Smells have strong coffee characteristic. Taste is roasted and coffeeish. Closer to a stout. Drinkability, for me at least, is reduced because of the roasted characteristics. A little too much for a porter.
Mar 20, 2005
Photo of shapudding
Reviewed by shapudding from Pennsylvania

3.94/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery, served icey cold. Thick dark brown-black that you cannot see through. Thin layer of rich creamy coffee ice-cream head that reduced down to a very thin layer with holes through it. Dark chocolate and coffee scents, puts a taste of Godiva dark liquor onto my tongue while smelling it. Carbonation is noticeable, but not overwhelming, fairly smooth. Black coffee, and the slightest bit of sweet chocolate in the aftertaste. Easy drinker. Better as it warms.
Mar 20, 2005
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

3.86/5  rDev -7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Sampled this on tap at Kclingers Publik House in a pint glass.
The beer pours a dark brown color with soft creamy tan head of 1 cm. Aroma is fairly mild with roasted malt and chocolate prevelant. First sip reveals soft gentle carbonation that rolls across my palate. Body is medium to lite and very easy to drink. Flavor is again mild like the nose with some toffee and a bit of chalky cocoa. The beer finishes clean and smooth. A nice porter that I could drink a few of.
Feb 07, 2005
Photo of aracauna
Reviewed by aracauna from Georgia

3.63/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours a nice black body with a very lumpy head that lingers nicely. The aroma is slightly roasty with a bit of chocolate. The body is similar, but doesn’t linger for very long. The body is full by porter standards (but not by stout standards). A very drinkable porter but nothing to write home about.
Jan 24, 2005
Photo of francisweizen
Reviewed by francisweizen from Washington

4.38/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
On-tap at the lovely Mahars Public Bar in Albany, NY. Dark nearly black brown with a lovely head of espresso coloured foam on top. The aromas are good and consist of chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, and more. The taste is quite chocolate-like and coffee-ish as well with some other nice hints of hops and roasted malts. The mouthfeel is creamy, smooth, and damn good as is the drinkability of this beast. A damn good organic porter from my "hometown" brewery. Good job.
Jan 18, 2005
Photo of WesWes
Reviewed by WesWes from New York

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
The beer pours a deep dark brown color with a thick frothy tan head that quickly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a dry and light scent that boasts of black patent and chocolate malts. It don't detect much in the hops department. The taste is decent. It has a smooth and light black malt flavor with some chocolate hints and a dry finish. It has an earthy aftertaste as well as a thin and slightly watery mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is decent. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. I wish this one was a bit heavier and not so thin on the finish. All said, this is a good drinking porter.
Jan 14, 2005
Photo of apintofknowledge
Reviewed by apintofknowledge from Connecticut

4.65/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I arrived at the Brooklyn Brewery not only to find their new Abbey-Ale on tap, but also the new Sustainable Porter! Their two new beers being among my favorite styles... it must be my birthday (well, actually, it was, and I couldn't have asked for a better present!)

Of course, seeing the beer on their blackboard and actually tasting are two different things... Though I've rarely been disappointed by the creations of Garrett Oliver, I must actually drink the beer before becoming too excited.

The porter poured a milk chocolate brown, with a creamy tan head. The smell was warm and toasty, both bitter and sweet, but not burnt. Now for the taste... the warmth just fills my mouth... nuts and sweet brown sugar with a slightly bitter mocha-like flavor. The full taste lingers in my mouth after I swallow, leaving neither too much bitterness nor too much sweet toasted malt in my mouth, just the full balanced flavor.

Thanks to Garrett and all at the brewery for making a brew (actually two brews - including the abbey ale) that made turning 30 an enjoyable experience.
Dec 20, 2004
Photo of UnionMade
Reviewed by UnionMade from New York

4.67/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
The beer is surprisingly light, more of a deep ruby red, rather than almost black, topped with a short crown of tan head. Good retention, keeping easily throughout the pint, leaving thin rings of lace trailing down the glass. Excellent clarity.
The aroma is richly chocolatey, with an incredible smoothness that you only seem to find in the smooth london style of porter. Strong notes of coffee and burnt malt, with subtle fruitiness hinting towards plum, pear and a suggestion of blueberry. Soft floral and herbal hopping floats atop the malt, adding complexity.
The flavor starts with a big, smoothened chocolate maltiness. Milder notes of coffee and burnt malt, as well as some toffee, the chocolate dominating the flavor throughout. Very silky, with slight fruitiness coming through the middle. Mostly plum and pear, with a bit of berry. The finish is mostly a bittersweet chocolate, with some burnt notes, a mild wash of floral and herbal hops adding a touch of bitterness. A lingering chocolatey goodness sticks to the top of the tongue. Medium bodied, with fine, english carbonation. The mouthfeel? Smooth as silk.
It was a pleasant surprise finding this at my local. I hope they get it again. It was listed as organic porter, and if this is organic, it's far and away the smoothest, mildest organic beer I've ever had. One hell of a porter, somewhere between english and american. Probably one of Brooklyn's best beers, along with their weiss and saison. I could drink a pint of two of this every day.
Jul 03, 2004
Photo of RoyalT
Reviewed by RoyalT from Michigan

4.35/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Appearance – This one came out of the tap a nice, darkish brown with a beautiful white fluffy head.

Smell – The aroma here exuded quality. The dark, roasty malts and fine cocoa chocolate created a symphony of exotic smells. This is not Hershey’s meets Stout. The aroma was extremely delicate and refined.

Taste – The darkish malts came on wonderfully at the taste. The fine Belgian chocolate came along too as well as a slight toffee compliment. My wife said she could pick up a bit of Anise but I couldn’t find it.

Mouthfeel – This medium-bodied Porter was milky smooth and a pleasure to hold in the cheeks.

Drinkability – I’ve had some terrific Strong/Baltic and Smoked Porters, but there are very few really good beers that fall into the simple “Porter” style category that I have come to appreciate. The Black Marlin, Black Butte, and Sierra Nevada come to mind. This offering by Brooklyn Brewing is right up there with the best of them.
Jun 11, 2004
Photo of PopeJonPaul
Reviewed by PopeJonPaul from Oregon

4.45/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Deep deep brown with a thin but strong creamy tan head. Toffee malt smell, toffee malt\roasted chocolatey oats flavor and a great hoppy edge. Chewy and smooth mouthfeel, but not especially creamy, goes down really easy (maybe too easy, heh heh heh...) I need to see a cask of this, heck if they bottled this stuff I'd bring my handtruck and shell out for car service for a couple cases.

This is one of my top 3 favorite Garrett Beers. When this is on tap on Friday nights it's all I drink.
May 25, 2004
Photo of stegmakk
Reviewed by stegmakk from New York

3.76/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured a great dark black with a thick tan head that lasts. Perfect looking beer.
Aroma was of roasted coffee, with a hint of molasses and chocolate.
Taste of bitter chocolate and coffee, roasted malt, hint of molasses again kinda threw me off. Still good, but not as amazing as I had hoped.
Mouthfeel nice and creamy.
Drinkability slightly better than average...there are other porters i like more.
Mar 24, 2004
Photo of CBFanWish
Reviewed by CBFanWish from New York

4.43/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
A fantastic offering from Brroklyn. I had a pint poured for me today at Monte's Crown in Rochester.
It poured a deep blood red colour, almost black with a thick frothy tan head. The head lasted almost the entire drink and lift the most beautiful spider web lace. The aroma was that of dark chocolate, toasted barley and coffee.
I am in love.
The taste is strong. Dark chocolate melts on my tongue like a rich flavored candy bar. Espresso finishes the taste.
This is probobly the best beer that Brroklyn has to offer. I am a fan of almost everything that they do, but this is the one. It's smooth and dark. To the untrained eye, this is a stout. But to me, it was a true porter. Everything that a porter should be.
My hat goes off to Mr. Oliver on a beer most worthy for the most discriminating of palates.
Mar 24, 2004
Photo of Stimack
Reviewed by Stimack from New York

4.12/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had this brew on tap at Mahar’s.

This brew poured to a deep brown almost black color with a nice bubbly light brown head that broke down to fantastic lacing through out the brew. The aromas from this brew are heavy on the coffee and chocolate, which dominate. Also can notice a slight fruit/fig aroma that goes very well with the heavier scents. The taste is heavy on the chocolate tones with a strong showing of coffee and roasted flavors. Also notice a very nice deep fruit flavor in the back of your palate. Overall this is a very nice porter, have had a few that I think were better but this is a great brew, one that I am sure I will experience again!
Mar 23, 2004
Photo of nomad
Reviewed by nomad from Kansas

4.2/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
In a sturdy imperial pint this beer is a thick brown with a fine head of microscopic bubbles. Thin lacing and stain with a perfect sheen to them.

Smell is a slightly grassy hops with some bitter fruit scents. Big nutty scents, roast abounds, and just a small enough amount of baker's chocolate.

Roasty flavor is low-laying but continual from front to back, with a robust twang becoming sizable in the middle. Some chocolate flavors while the hops are tiny but recognizably as very British. Through a pint (two, really) it builds to a highly nutty core infused with a flavor of coffee with one cream and one sugar. Thicker mouthfeel feels great for a session porter.

From a Garrett Oliver keg, its of course drinkable and screams of hand crafting. Fair and balanced, full of flavor - expected. Would be a bit better if Brooklyn could get organic grains as high quality as the normal ones (he admitted its tough to find quality organic grains). I hope this tempts out a non-organic porter from Mr. Oliver, because you know it would be marvelous.
Feb 24, 2004
Photo of GreatPondBrewer
Reviewed by GreatPondBrewer from California

4.12/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Wnderful find at the old toad. Poured a dark brown with ruby towards the bottem of the glass. Smelled of baked molassas and brown sugar and slight chocolate. The taste was some serious coffeee notes filled out with a more tasty brown sugar presence, just a little hops and a toffee almost oatmeal stout finish and a creamy mouthfeel that sustained(no pun intended) this brew to the finish. Wonderful session beer that represents the best that breweries have to offer. i hope that more go wind powered in the future. This is what small, craft beers are all about.
Feb 21, 2004
Photo of mrjimcat
Reviewed by mrjimcat from New York

4.35/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Well it is Valentine's day and the missus and I went to Molyvos for dinner. Since I know One of the chefs there we always are treated to some extra selections. I hadn't had a porter for some time so when I saw this brewer's reserve I jumped on it. Bot was I glad I did. Not too bitter and tasting of chocolate malts with coffee notes this baby was delicious. Very quaffable the brew went down easy. The taste from the malts came back during dinner to remind me just how tasty this porter was. Served in a unique tall glass, this brew is to be supped slowly to enjoy every ounce. Highly recommended!
Feb 16, 2004
Sustainable Porter from Brooklyn Brewery
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 23 ratings