BackDraft Chocolate Porter
Pennichuck Brewing Company, Inc.

 

From the 22 fl. oz. bottle. This brewery closed in November 2009. I sampled this leftover on January 17, 2010. The pour is a dark mahogany brown with a thin, short lived fizzy beige head. There's a bit of sediment floating around. The aroma has a nice chocolate malt scent to it and it is also rather sweet. The mouthfeel is rather thin but not watery. The taste starts off with a nice roasted bitterness and nice raisiny esters but then chasing it down my throat is a dose of chocolate. It is a shame that this place closed because I enjoyed many of their brews and this one is no exception.

Reviewed on 10/31/2009. 22 oz. bottle. Pours a dark brown with a small tan head.. Aroma of sweet malt, a touch oxidized, some roasted malt notes. Flavor of roasted, smoky malts. Definite oxidation...probably an old bottle, but I don't really know. Meh.

I somehow recieved two of these in the last week after never having any of them before! Go figure. Opened one up tonight to give it a try. Served chilled and poured into a pint glass, this one was consumed on 10/10/2009.

A very dark brown color poured out of the glass with a nice chocolate covered head that reached a height of around two inches before settling back down into a thin cap that had some nice side glass lacing. Nice peat aroma, light chcoclate touches but I found it to be dominated by a smokey, roasted malt note. Flavor was very, very close as well. Light chocolate touches that come and go wrapped up in a very smokey body. Hints of light woody notes, some dark fruit bitterness in the finish but it is dominated totally by the total smoke flavor. Nice medium feel and smooth, rich body led to a nice sipper on a fall night.

Overall it was pretty solid. A bit one dimensional with the ton of smoke flavor, but I really think it came together pretty well. I would have no issue in trying this one again.

A 22 ounce bomber bottle picked up at Abe's in Bethlehem. Poured into my shaker glass. The porter appears a translucent chestnut color with about an inch of creamy ecru foam. Flavors and aromas are of milk chocolate, mocha, caramel, toasted sweet bread, medium roasted grains, a hint of char and coffee. Maybe a notch better than medium bodied with adequate carbonation. Certainly worth trying and quite reasonably priced as well.

Thanks goes out to portia99 for this brew.

22oz. Bomber

Pours a nice clean/clear dark brown color, nice carbonation, little fizzy off-white head, with some sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some chocolate, and caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, a nice touch of chocolate/caramel, and slight toffee. Medium body. Drinkable, a tasty little brew, glad to have had a chance to try it.

A gift from a (semi) recent CouchSurfer. sh Head was a finger of deep with great retention. Color was a deep, dark brown ot "without a lot of light penetration. Nose had a smoky, sultry sweetness. I cannot say that it was fire smoky, but I would have it on a Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Night. Mouthfeel was medium with caramel flavor with a good bit of smokiness on the tongue. Finish had a good bit of chocolate-caramel sweetness. This would be an excellent dessert beer.

Bought a bomber of this and poured it into a snifter. The color is quite dark, almost black, with a thin head that slowly dissipates. The aroma is some kind of funky fruity mixture with malt. Not overly appealing.

After a couple of sips I'm tasting mostly smoke, black malt, an astringent bitterness and no chocolate. As the beer warms up I think I can taste a little bit of cocoa, but I might be imagining it. Essentially, I can't taste any chocolate in this chocolate porter.

The mouthfeel isn't too bad, but its a little on the watery side and not very smooth. Drinkability is ok, but I won't be looking for another. In short, I can't find any chocolate and what flavor is there, is bland and slightly astringent. I think the recipe needs an overhaul for this one if they want to call it a chocolate porter.

This is the first beer I've tried from Pennichuck Brewing Company, right out of nearby Milford, New Hampshire. One great thing about New Hampshire...no shortage of quality, local breweries!

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a pint glass. 2-finger thick head that quickly dissipates to a light brown foam. Short lived lacing on the glass.

S-A bit of fruit initially hits the nose which caught me by surprise. Not much in the way of chocolate but hints of roasted malt and coffee.

T-Again not much chocolate is showing up in this chocolate porter. Hints of roasted coffee show up, and a bit of a sour taste. Very little in the way of hops or overall complexity.

M-Slightly thin for the style. Not too far out of the realm of a dark ale.

D-goes down real smooth, even with the medium carbonation. A pretty easy to drink porter, but if you are looking for a true chocolate porter, this probably isn't the best place to look. Will probably pass on it again in the future.

A- Poured into a pint glass... had a finger thick head that receded quickly, and leaves very little lacing. Looks black as coffee.

S- Not a whole lot of aroma... can detect a slight hint of the chocolate, but very subtle

T- Again, nothing overpowering. A very subtle chocolate taste on top of the toasted beer flavor

M- When sloshed around, seems slightly over carbonated

D- I could drink another, but would prefer something different. All in all, a decent beer but would never be a first choice

CHEERS

Dark brown with ruby highlights, and a three finger head of sizzling orangey brown foam that settles out to a fine cap of even bubbles.

Very low aroma of cocoa and roasted malts.

Flavor of semisweet malt, some roasty notes, mild bitterness, but the chocolate seems to be missing. Not very complex at all, I'm trying hard to pick out flavors. This is more like a mild or brown ale. Finishes metallic and a bit yeasty, perhaps some Ringwood?

Mouthfeel feels thin for a porter, somewhat slick, finishes a bit tannic.

Low drinkability, this is just not that great. I'm pouring out the rest and salvaging the experience by using the bottle for homebrews.

The backdraft porter is medium to dark brown, light for a porter. Aroma is malty and earthy, metallic notes are present. Mouthfeel is similar to a brown ale. There is little chocolate taste or aroma. Virtually no hop aroma and minimal bitterness as well. It is a light and refreshing porter, despite packaging that might indicate a heavy chocolate porter.

The beer pours a dark brown color with a thick frothy tan head that fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a dry roasted malt scent with some subtle chocolate notes. It has a slight metallic aroma. The taste is average. It has a very dry, roasted and chocolate malt flavor that goes down slow and finishes thin with some metallic off-flavors. The mouthfeel is decent. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is an average porter. The chocolate character is weak. I won't be searching for this one again.

Appearance:
Poured a Two finger head into a tulip glass. Probably should have used a pint glass, but knew that most porters don't generate too much of a head, so I created a hefty one with the tulip. Color was black or very, very dark brown. No color glowing on the edges.

Smell:
Aroma isn't strong in one area. Reminds me of something Belgium...particularly Orval. It's definitely malty. But the chocolate aroma is very subdued, and hardly noticeable. It actually smells as fruity as it does chocolaty - which I didn't expect. After a few gulps, I noticed an ester of caramel.

Taste:
Slight on the chocolate taste for a beer that has "chocolate" in the name. It's definitely a bakers chocolate...nothing too sweet. Roasted malts come through prominently. The slight caramel aroma comes through on the tastebuds, too.

Mouthfeel:
This is the most "refreshing" a porter I've ever tasted. It's fairly thin and carbonated for a porter, but I like it.

Drinkability:
Fairly high. Hard to tell what the ABV is here. I notice it's a mystery to BA as well.

a: This was a deep, dark brown, almost completely opaque. It pours with a fairly short lived off-white head.

s: Rich roasty grains with a little vanilla and coffee. It was very difficult to discern any chocolate.

t: Mild chocolate flavors, but certainly stronger than the smell. On the sweet side for a porter.

m: Average porter body and mildly fizzy carbonation.

d: Thanks to joepais for a pretty tasty chocolate porter.

Served this slightly chilled, in a pint glass, from a twenty two ounce brown bottle. Was actually excited to try this brew.

Appearance: BackDraft Chocolate Porter looked a deep brown as it was poured from the bottle, but morphed into an almost black color in the glass. A hard pour resulted in about a finger and a half of creamy, tan colored head. Head settled rather quickly into a quarter inch thick gob of foam. Each sip left a thin ring of lace around the glass.

Smell: Heavy, roasted malt nose out front. Definitely a rich chocolate aroma as well. Thin notes of coffee linger in the background, along with a slight smokiness. A touch of hops are noticed but no booze.

Taste: Definitely a thick roasted malt backbone, slightly hoppy. Seems to be less chocolate in the flavor than the smell. No noticeable alcohol. Finishes dry, with a light fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: A tad thin in my opinion. Moderately carbonated. Has a bit of a creamy feel to it.

Drinkability: A rather drinkable brew in my opinion. A pretty decent offering from Pennichuck.

Thanks to jcwattsrugger for bringing this 22-oz. bottle back from the brewery for me!

Pours very dark brown - almost black - with ruby highlights. A light brown head is rich to begin with, though descends pretty quickly. It stays on as a lasting cover.

The smell is of milk chocolate with light roast. A porter-styled chocolate/coffee maltiness backs it up, along with an earthy note. Nice to have a solid porter aroma mixed in with a chocolate - not cocoa powder - aroma. Pretty robust, too - as I caught the smell upon pouring.

The taste is chocolate, more mild than in aroma, but certainly there. Again, it is milk chocolate-y, not as bitter or cocoa-powderish as some examples of the style. There is a bitterness, but it comes from English hops - earthy, slightly lemony. As it warms to the upper end of the recommended serving temp (and beyond) (50 F), it becomes even better. A light smoky/roasty touch finishes it off in the semi-dry finish.

The body is silky smooth, on the lighter end of the porter spectrum, but still appropriate for the style. (It wouldn't be confused with a stout body, but shouldn't, as it is a porter).

Drinks super easily. Very well-balanced. Not overly chocolatey - but, that's something that I could really appreciate, as it allows a well-balanced, and tasty porter to come through, mixing in well. It comes down to being a very nice porter with a chocolate character.

picked this up from jaspers, happy to try something new from a brewer I enjoy!

A - nice mahogany colored brew with a solid tan head.
S - roasted notes, cocoa, coffe and caramel.
T - taste follows thenose with a hint of bitterness but light on what I consider a traditional porter characteristic.
M - medium bodied, smooth creamy mouthfeel.
D - smooth, savory, easy to drink. paired this up with a burgundy wine marinated bbq dinner and was quite happy with the results!

This one is dark brown, roastie chestnuts with a red-hue in the middle, thick frothy head, wicked retention. Lookin' good.

The nose has...Rollo's candies, spicey chocolate and a big rootbeer scent.

The flavor is a sweet chocolate, earthy herbal balance from the malt and just like in the aroma tons of Rootbeer flavor which is unique and strange.

The feel is actually a light, zippy medium bodied feel with high carbonation and a slightly smooth finish.

The rootbeer effect was strange but not unpleasant, complexity could be higher as well.

A- Pours a deep dark brown with a large frothy head. Solid retention, decent lacing.

S- Sweet cocoa, like ovaltine, fills the nose.

T- A mild smooth flavor. Dark burnt malt and sweet cocoa chocolate. A chocolatey finish with just a hint of hops.

M- Body is on the light side, fairly flat but overall very smooth across the palate.

D- A mild easy drinking porter. Almost no bitterness.