Porter
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had this at the location at Fountain Square in Cincinnati before the holidays. Review from notes. Received in a pint glass.

5.0 A: Black. Super creamy light brown head with insane retention and lacing.

4.5 S: Despite the nitrogen sucking the life out of this beer (and every beer), it still smells wonderful. Dry, but with lots of sweet chocolate and a heavy roastiness. Seems like there is some lactose or something in here, but I don't think there actually is. Not super complex, but infinitely inviting.

4.0 T: Taste is like the nose, but is less intense.

3.5 M: Nitro gives a good creaminess, but the beer has a lighter body anyway. Good enough I guess.

4.0 D: Probably my favorite RB brew thus far despite my eternal hatred for nitro.

 

A- Comes out a very dark brown, dark for the style. Head is virtually nonexistant and I saw them pour it, it's not like they skimmed it to give me more beer, there's just very little head to it.
S- Smell is milk chocolate, a little caramel and coffee and there is the slightest smokey aroma.
T- The smokey flavor comes through. It's smokey at first but the milk chocolate flavor still comes through pretty well. Low hop presence. Finish is short but this is where that smokeyness comes through again.
M- Well, plain and simple it's undercarbonated and underweighted. I, unfortunately, have to describe this one as watery. Simply doesn't have the presence for me.
O- More body to it and I think a lot of the issues with it would get hammered out. As is, it's just an underweight porter, a welterweight trying to fight in the light heavyweight division, if you will.

Appearance - still setting up in the mug, nitro bubbles ascending upwards to feed a smooth light chocolate head. It is unevenly colored, a patch of white here or there at the edge. A nice garnet body.

Aroma - cocoa, roasted grain, even a smack of hops at first, though that dissipates after a minute. Light but with good resiliance.

Taste - more roasted malts, just barely charred, mingles with sweet chocolate, then overpowered by chocolate and mixing with a fine balance of hops. The aftertaste is as good as it gets. A long finish for this one, chocolatey and warm.

Mouthfeel - wasn't sure how I'd like a cask porter but this is great. Makes me think of a mugful of melted chocolate, Willy Wonka would be proud.

Drinkability - very sessionable with or without food. Worth a growler if they could figure out a way to do that with the cask beers.

Dark brown...light roasted malt on the nose...taste is roasted malts and chocolate...body is on the lighter side of medium...OK beer...quaffable porter but norhing too big here...The stout has a little more flavor, this one is a little maltier though..neither are beers to seek out but if enjoying a dinner here it would be better than Bud Light or the macros

Served at the Chicago restaurant. A thicker than expected, dark brown head. Full of coffee and chocolate flavor, and just a hint of cola, I think. Forced carbonation gives it a somewhat grainy mouthfeel, but it’s still a little “thin.” The smell is not very strong, but its roastyness becomes more assertive and I go further down. I’m getting a feel for English hop bitterness here, although that could also be astringency.

One of the last brews I had at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Glendale, AZ, this porter had a deep ruby color and a foamy, speckled mocha head that left some moderate lace behind.
The smell was full of coffee aroma and roasted malts. The taste was only lightly sweet, of some dark plums, up front before the strong espresso coffee flavor came on and lay over the palate, slowly increasing in bitterness through the finish. The taste was rather one-dimensional as the coffee flavor really dominated the taste. The feel was on the light side of medium-bodied, dry, and smooth.
Again, a decent beer but nothing that would astonish anyone. The feel and presentation of the beer was nice but this porter could stand to have some more balance to it.