Porter
The Brew Keeper

12 ounce bottle. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours dark brown with about an inch and half tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent. Aroma is roasted malt, coffee and a weird fruity aroma that I have no idea what it is. Taste is similar to the aroma (including the weird fruity taste), but also has a bit of a nutty taste too. However, the overall flavor of this beer is just weird. I can't explain it, but there's something a bit off about it. Mouthfeel/body is light/medium, it's a bit coating and has low carbonation. Drinkability is OK, it's not hard to drink at all but the weird flavor and aroma sure doesn't help. Good thing I only bought a single bottle of this. I'll have to revisit this in the future, because I don't think I had a good bottle.

Live review. Poured from a 22 oz. bomber into my Cooperstown Beverage Trail pint glass. Purchased for $5.99 at Reider's Market in Painesville about 2 months ago. No observed "best by" or "freshness date" found by me on label or the bottle. 5.2% ABV.

A Deep Mahogany body (not black) that lets very little light through under a medium brown one inch head. Nice look for the style but nothing too remarkable.

S Dark roast malt to the nose.

T A nice, mature porter that is pretty much right down the middle but has nice oaky, earthy depth to it that lingers on the tongue for the right amount of time.

M Somewhat watery but appropriately thick malt feel.

D Good for the style, helped by the reasonable ABV and the interesting, mature, earthy dark malt tastes.

Notes: One of the more solid Brew Keeper beers. Any fan of a porter who has access to this should check it out.

A - Pours a very dark brown (borders on black) with a healthy amount of cola coloring that shows up in the light. The mocha head tops out at about a quarter inch and does not go away. The head seems to be an anomaly of some kind. It just keeps a nice creamy look and sticks around forever. Impressive. Lacing is plentiful and just adds to the nice look of this brew. With a little more foam this would be a picture perfect porter.

S - Aroma is very mild. Some roastiness and a touch of espresso is about all that really shows up. Alcohol is noted as well. This category could use a little work.

T - Tastes like a classic porter. Some dry roasted flavors backed up by mild coffee. Some bittersweet chocolate comes through towards the end along with a hint of alcohol. Might be a little bread that comes through as well but it is far removed from the initial flavors. Not too shabby.

M - Lighter bodied with a nice carbonation level that just works. Finish has some dryness that seems subdued and works well. Pretty smooth overall.

D - Drinkability is nice. Everything comes together to make a classic porter that actually reminded me of the great porters I used to get before "extreme" beer took over the beer scene. The aroma could probably use some improvement but I was still surprised by how good this beer was. As it warms the roasted flavors come through even more and makes for an even better drinking experience. I can definitely see having this brew again.

Burnt umber with dark cherry highlights when backlit with radiant morning sunshine. The pale caramel colored cap is a bit crackly, although it settles down in short order and looks pretty good in the end. Too bad there isn't more lace.

The aroma is more run-of-the-mill dark lager than porter. There's a little dark malt, some tart fruit and a faint metallic tang. Time helps. The metal is now gone and the chocolate malt has come to the fore.

Porter is a strictly average example of the style from a brewery that, in my experience, is anything but average. I wonder how this place can nail IPA after IPA, pumpkin ales and cream ales, yet struggle with what should be a relatively easy beer to brew.

Due to a lack of malt, Porter lacks both substance and complexity (although warming helps with regard to substance). Sweetness, bitterness and sourness are all at a relatively low ebb and effectively cancel one another out. Regarding specifics: dark caramel, cocoa nibs and unripe dark fruit.

The body/mouthfeel improves over time. It isn't big, creamy or expansive, but then a 5.2% porter doesn't need to be... unless it has designs on greatness. The lackluster carbonation doesn't help. Then again, it doesn't hurt too much either.

Porter is my least favorite The Brew Keeper beer to date. The possibility exists, of course, that I got ahold of an unrepresentative bottle. If not, then this particular Brew is definitely not a Keeper. Unless you buy a bomber of everything in the cooler (like I did), save your money for something else.

bottle courtesy of Crizay
Pours a dark brown to almost black with lots of ruby highlights on the glasses edges. Very fizzy light tan head. Smell is wet cardboard like malt and the slightest hint of roast. Too mild of a roasty character in the nose. Taste is incredibly bland, and thin roastiness. Easily the thinnest porter I've ever had body and flavor-wise. Unbelievably thin, in fact. I kept thinking there was some mistake as this was more like seltzer water than beer, much less a porter. Still drinkable, I guess.

Hand bottled 12 oz. bottle that has a turd colored homemade label of 2 beakers and the Mad Brewer's initials inbetween them. On the sides and the bottom of the label is where you can find the address of the brewery, ABV of 5.2%, and the Government warning.

I poured this one into a Harvest Moon American pint glass. The beer appeared to be a dark chocolate black, but instead it was a deep dark mahagony brown with a few murky ruby red highlights along the sides. The head of foam was at least 1/2 inch in height and made of fizzy tan bubbles. These fizzy tan bubbles quickly fizzled away into a handful of tan colored rings along the edge. It had a lightly smoky aroma of smoked malts, bitter dark chocolate, and a tiny pinch of caramel at the end. The taste started off innocent enough with dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, caramel, and touch of roasted hops. Then all of a sudden, in comes this typhoon of spring water. Why did it have to do that? It should have stopped at the hops, but it had to press on. The mouthfeel felt like it was an overly carbonated light beer thta had a soft aftertaste of spring water, roasted malts, and a quick sting of bitter dark chocolate.

I wouldn't drink this Porter in a bottle again. In the bottle it was overly carbonated and watery. Not a good mix! I might try it again on-tap at the Brew Keeper, but definitely not in a bottle again. It might be worth a shot if you can get fresh at the Brew Keeper.