Session Ale #38: Deserving Porcupine
East End Brewing Company

Had this on cask at Pipers Pub. Was excited to try, since finding good English style bitters on cask anywhere in Pittsburgh is tough. Visually the beer was quite appealing, clear with a light foamy head from the handpull. Color was treading the line between amber and brown. Very little aroma, with a hint of dark fruit. Taste was what really lost me. No maltiness jumped out at me, which really should happen at cask serving temps. Overly bitter, probably a combo of too many hops and some astringency from the dark malts. Read that this was dry hopped on their website after I tried, which might have contributed to the drying/mouthpuckering earthiness. One highlight was that it was pretty drinkable. But wasn't what I was looking for in a Best Bitter.

On-tap at Capone's in a 16oz pint glass.

Appearance: Dark brownish with a finger of fluffy off white foam that settles down and lingers throughout the drink.

Smell: Extremely bready and malty nose. Very tiny trace of hops, but the malt is the true focus of this aroma.

Taste: Bready biscuity malt with a nice mild bitterness that rolls into the aftertaste. Very good taste on this beer.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied (yet feels full bodied due to the malt) with a nice dry finish.

Drinkability: Another good offering from East End. I went into this beer with high expectations, and it delivered. This was a very enjoyable, extremely session beer that I would definitely be ok with if they made it a year round offering.

Deserving Porcupine is a tarnished but clear copper color. The head is off-white and foamy looking, and it leaves some pretty good lacing on the glass while retaining a thin ring of foam on top of the body.

The aroma has a mix of molasses sweetness and a good bit of grassy, leafy, herbal hops.

Deserving Porcupine is surprisingly hoppy. A huge amount of leafy, earthy hops get a little bit of balance from sweet malts that are reminiscent of toffee and a hint of molasses. A little bit of fruitiness is in the background too, but to be honest I'm not sure if it is coming from the yeast or one of the hops. The finish is pretty bitter, and it makes me wonder if the name "porcupine" comes from the prickly, bitter hop profile this beer has. Whether it does or not, the hops make the beer seem almost tea-like overall.

Light with pretty lively carbonation.

Anything called a "session ale" should be pretty drinkable, and I think Deserving Porcupine is. I wish more breweries were making low alcohol beer with lots of flavor like East End does. Solid beer, worth checking out.

64 oz brewery filled growler into an oversized mug.

Pours a deep clear copper, topped with a finger of tight slightly off-white colored foamy head. This retains with a thin layer of creamy froth that skims the surface but the flareup on this is still VERY rich, leaving back thick swathes of foamy lacing behind. The hops are fresh and vibrant smelling in the aroma, being floral and hearbal, with some green earthy citrus flavor poking through. The malts however hold their own here in the nose, with a gentle sweet stickiness that almost comes off a bit like some light molasses character across the back, which nicely compliments the hop profile.

The taste is nice and bitter up front from spice, resins, and grapefruit juice coming out in a flush across the back of the palate. That malty backbone comes off as sweeter at first with some lighter toffee flavor, before getting a bit more toasted and burnt feeling, once again reminding me of molasses character. This has just enough sweetness in it to balance out the darker aspects of this out but still allows those hops to stretch the whole way through the profile. This finishes with a good bit of lingering spice and dry leafy grit. The mouthfeel has more of a medium bodied presence as it sits in the mouth but once this starts moving, I mean this is just effortless feeling with some crispness on top and then a silky smoothness underneath.

I think what really makes this beer the most however, is an almost herbal tea-like character that is not only tasted as a flavor but is also what gives this that refreshing and hugely quaffable nature to it's body.

Basing this on style and sessionalbility, I must say that this might just be the most satisfying offering that I've ever had from East End. Just so flavorful and easy drinking, this growler disappeared in no time flat! Bitters aren't even quite up there as one of my favorite styles but this was just some awesome, awesome stuff.

I got this growler yesterday at East End. It was between this and Monkey Boy and since I already had 64 oz. of Penn Weizen sitting in the cooler I opted for this "best bitter." Not a bad choice.

Pretty, red-tinted brown. Big ol' head with good lacing. Pine-y hops dominate nose with indeterminate spices in rear. No malt aroma at all.

Flavor: Whoa. Real - REAL - bitter. Ton of bitterness. The malt that wasn't in the nose makes a token appearance towards the end. Solid mouthfeel and pretty darn drinkable.

Not Scott's best but a fine, fine beer.

Edit: it's been 4 days since I opened that growler and just had two glasses. Wow. The carbonation is down - obviously - but now there's a nice smoked maltiness coming through, in both the smell and flavor. Much more interesting. Taking taste up a notch, 'cause it deserves it.

Was told this is a Best Bitter.

Pours a dark brown that shows ruby hues when held to light. Thick light tan head. Nose is interesting. Almost like a kind of sauce on a cinnamon bun or something like that. Not so much sugar laden, but malty sweet. It's interesting. Flavor is: bitter! Surprise, surprise. But it's a session ale kind of bitter with leafy and mildly sweet edges that provide a thorough and consistent flavor delivery. Carbonation rests on the tongue and seems to keep popping on there a bit. Not overly done though. Very easy to drink. Yet again, East End shows brewing prowess and mastery of a unusual style. Well, unusual for the U.S. at least. This session ales thing is a great thing in my opinion. I can't say I have appreciated all of the styles as they really swing all over the spectrum and produce some real unusual stuff, but a lot of them work for me. And the lower alcohol is totally cool too, since I can drink a lot more and not get wasted out of my mind. But back to the overall verdict of this beer: excellent bitter and extremely drinkable. It's dry hopped by the way, so that is what you see floating in there.