Porter
Mayflower Brewing Company

Jaystar from Massachusetts

4.24/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Wicked! Much more lively than a typical porter. Enough hops to cut into the syrupy malts, which still dominate - as they should. Satisfyingly rich and dense with enough fizz to balance and cut that. Drinking one satisfies nicely - but not so heavy that more would be too rich - as can be the case for me with porters. Wicked!

Jan 18, 2021

VoxRationis from New York

4.3/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Decanted into a 12 oz (355 ml) clear goblet from a 16 oz (473 ml) can; canned on 07/07/20.
A: Pours a very dark, clear brown color with a two finger, tan head, cap and ring retention and complex rings of lacing.
S: Aromas of molasses, cocoa, mocha, toffee, and macadamia nuts
T: Semisweet. Flavors mirror the nose, but much more birch beer and/or sarsaparilla. Solid but balanced bitterness.
M: Light to medium bodied with moderate effervescence
O: Mayflower has come up with a light but delicious Anglo-American Porter.

Jan 10, 2021

milkshakebeersucks from Maryland

4.1/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appropriately dark appearance with a medium size, tan head and a fair amount of lacing. Slightly ashy, coffee, chocolate and caramel malt aroma. Flavors of dark bread, coffee and molasses. Sweetness evident throughout but more pronounced in the aftertaste. Medium bodied, decently carbonated mouthfeel with an average length finish.

Nov 03, 2020

Siriusfisherman from Vermont

4.21/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

L: Dark brown with hints of red. Creamy head that dissipates and leaves behind a little lacing.

S: Rich coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel aroma with a touch of herbal/spicy hops.

T: Moderate bitterness upfront, moves into pronounced coffee and chocolate flavors with a sweet caramel finish. Hop flavor comes in part way through and lingers into the aftertaste.

F: Medium bodied, crisp.

Overall: A very tasty porter that I will be happy to make a regular in my fridge.

Aug 24, 2020

WunderLlama from Massachusetts

4.08/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Can poured into a pint glass

Dark cola like liquid with a one finger taupe foam cap, three minute retention, recedes to a thin layer of taupe bubbles and some lacings

Aroma is roasted malts,

Taste is roast malts, bittersweet chocolate, hint of coffee

Good roast taste, slight bitterness lingers

Good beer

Apr 26, 2020

Gajo74 from New York

4.03/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Mayflower porter

From the can, it pours a clear dark brown color. However, it looks black in the glass. A moderate tan head quickly dissipates and yields a ring of lacing throughout.

The malt rich aroma reveals toasty and biscuity malts, along with notes of dark chocolate and coffee. There is even a touch of jammy dark fruit.

Well balanced taste overall that emphasizes robust malt flavors that reveal a modest sweetness. Flavors of toasty and biscuity malts, bittersweet dark chocolate, mild coffee roast and a light touch of smoke. The black malts are smoothly integrated into the flavor without being acrid or astringent. Modest touches of earthy and grassy hops provide balance and a touch of bitterness.

Full bodied and mouth coating with a very smooth mouthfeel. The carbonation is moderately gentle. The finish yields touches of clean toasted malts and with an easy going bitterness.

This is a really good example of a balanced and easy drinking porter. I look forward to trying other examples from this brewery.

Jan 28, 2020

HBSnyder

3.99/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer is light and smooth but with light coffee after taste. Many of the mayflower beers are good so I was hoping for more from this. It took me 4 beers at different sittings to appreciate its light subtle flavor. It's rather dry that most porters I drink lack. There's also some slight vanilla or oak, wood notes that until drinking more slowly, one might miss. I drank this beer at 4C, straight out of the fridge, but now that I think of it, it might be better a little warmer.

Dec 05, 2019

iGulp from Ohio

4.29/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Nice porter. Very good taste and well balanced. Good roll across the tongue, which to me is a sign of an excellent beer. Very balanced and drinkable. Excellent!

Nov 22, 2019

Amendm from Rhode Island

4.16/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A strong pour from a 16-oz. can yields a finger sized creamy tan head with some large bubbles, long retention and arches of lacing. Dark chestnut brown with faint red highlights.
Smells of baked chocolate and caramel, faint coffee and floral hops follow to the taste.
Coffee starts the taste, neutral on sweetness and mildly bitter. The caramel malty rich middle is semi-dry as bitterness increases. A light astringency and chalkiness during the finish is mellowed by the abundant and diverse malt bill leading to a mild bitter aftertaste.
A hair above medium bodied, below average carbonation. Smooth, alcohol is well hidden.
Great balance between sweet malts with roasted character and hop bitterness.

Feb 18, 2019

chitoryu12 from Florida

4.21/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Look: Extremely dark brown, with only a little crystal highlights at the bottom of the glass or under light. Two fingers of thick, creamy tan head.

Smell: Sweet and roasted chocolate with a bit of tang.

Taste: Roasted coffee and chocolate with a hint of bitterness. Otherwise relatively sweet.

Mouthfeel: Creamy full body with very minimal carbonation.

Overall: I got a cask-conditioned beer, something rare in America. It’s a fantastic example of historical brewing.

Feb 09, 2019

metter98 from New York

4.06/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Cask at Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale, Boston, MA

A: The beer is essentially jet black in color—only faint traces of dark red are visible near the edge of the glass when it is held up to a bright light. It poured with a finger high beige head that consistently left a short head covering the surface.
S: Light to moderate aromas of chocolatey malts are present in the nose.
T: The taste also has flavors of chocolate malts with additional strong notes of cola and a subtle hint of sweetness.
M: It feels just about medium-bodied, a little thin, and somewhat smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This porter is nice and chocolatey and also has a good appearance and mouthfeel.

Serving type: cask

Sep 16, 2018

bobv from Vermont

4.21/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch light tan head over a dark brown body with some lacing. Nose of roasted malt, chocolate, and a bit of coffee as well. Taste mirrors nose with a spot on, slightly bitter finish. Good feel on this and overall, a well done, solid little porter right here. Cheers!

Feb 09, 2018

brewme from Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Picked-up as part of the Mayflower Compact mixed can twelve pack. I enjoy porters, but rarely get them, as I usually stick with IPAs. Glad I tried this, smooth, well balanced, would buy/drink again.

Oct 14, 2017

OzmanBey from Massachusetts

4.8/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I was out to dinner with my special gal when I had this nice Porter, it has a nice smooth taste, small foam head, with a nice dark complexion, it smells like a nice Porter with a roast barley smell and has a very nice chocolate taste. What I really liked about this Porter is it's a light bodied beer with all the flavors of a full bodied Porter. Nothing is sacrificed and it goes down well both cold and room temp.

Sep 27, 2017

tiltedglass from New York

3.36/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A decent brew, but if never bad, never great. Here's why: it pours wel with a complex head that disappears quickly. Taste is a good balance but vague, with some mild bitterness that actually saves it. It lacks finish, and is decidedly "thin" in the sense that it lacks body. The mouthfeel is watery. And yet, it tastes good on the tongue. I prefer other porters by far, but I wouldn't turn this down from a friend.

Aug 24, 2017

Lone_Freighter from Vermont

4/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The appearance is a pitch black colored body with a slim white one fingered foamy head that drops to a speckled sticky foamy lacing. The smell has a delicately balanced coffee to chocolate - a nice gentle burnt and roastiness. The taste is pretty much the same as the aroma with a crisp dry roasty chocolatey aftertaste and just a dry finish. The palate sits fairly light on the body with a gentle sessionability to it. Carbonation is slightly smooth but also shows some harshness to keep one from pounding it. Overall, what a nice English Porter, probably the best one I’ve had today by Mayflower as I would definitely have this again.

Jun 05, 2017

Holderness from Massachusetts

3.81/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

L -- 1,000 lumens passed through the glass reveals a dark reddish brown brew. Scant one-finger tan head that dissipates quickly to nothing. Little to no lacing.
S -- Smells quite similar to Old Chub scotch ale: molasses, roasted malts, some cacao powder. Very mild aromas overall, but the molasses smell is a little syrupy smelling
T -- Semisweet chocolate, smoke, roasted barley malts, herbal/grassy hops, and just a hint of coffee
F -- Nice and sessionable. Mild mouthfeel, moderate carb. A little watery on the finish
O -- A true traditional-style porter. Straight out of a Dickens novel

77/100

May 05, 2017

Alieniloquium from Florida

3.42/5  rDev -18%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle. Pours a deep brown, not quite black. Smells of chocolate and nutty malts. Some coffee roast behind it. Tastes nicely roasty. Maybe a little oxidation (I found this in the back of my fridge... oops). Nutty brown malts with a coffee roast bitterness in the back end. Medium bodied, if that. Pretty light for a porter. Decent flavor and drinkable.

Feb 07, 2017

BigGold from Mississippi

4.03/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First had poured from 12-oz. can, gift from friend, into faceted mug. This, my first beer from Mayflower, is not a big brash porter, but a subtle mix of well-balanced flavors.

Jan 21, 2017

BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

4.11/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

From the can, it pours a very dark brown with a modest head, slimming down to a ring eventually. Some lacing. Definite toasted malt and coffee in the nose. The taste follows the nose, with a definite burnt toast flavor, along with some chocolate. Nice!

Jan 15, 2017

Act25 from New Jersey

4.05/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Here's a near perfect porter.

A: Pours a flattish, chocolate brown body with tan head that is flattish, laces and retains little.

S: Toast, roast, charred wood, black bread, hops. Dry.

T: After the toasted, charred black bread, the roasty and hop flavors kick in, offering a charred bitter flavor and twisty, sweet and charred red pepper finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to low carbonation

O: The charred, hoppy, toast mark this as a great porter.

Came back in boston and was a bit sweeter and more cola-like and looking, but otherwise class English, sessionable, nice finish or start of evening porter.

Nov 11, 2016

SawDog505 from New Hampshire

3.87/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured on draft into a pint glass. Pours a very dark brown, with a solid one inch light tan head that leaves some spotty lace behind.

Smell is biscuit, bready, hints of baker's chocolate, vanilla, toffee, and coffee.

Taste follows bread and bisuit upfront, vanilla, coffee, and chocolate in the very balanced finish.

Mouthfeel is maybe medium, soft carbonation, not dry at all, and excellent drinkability.

Overall this is a very nice porter sessionable porter, with amazing balance.

Oct 20, 2016

Amguerra305 from Florida

4.67/5  rDev +12%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75

Pours thin and looks a dark cola brown in the glass with almost no lingering head. Smell is chocolate coffe roast body with a slightly malty sweetness on the front end. Smells much bigger than it looks. When I first tasted I remember thinking "holy crap that is flavorful!" I was truly blown away by the depth of the flavor of this porter. Chocolate and coffee back bone with the flavor of a big stout. The porter nature of this beer is only evident in the body as it is light with barely any carbonation. Overall an amazing porter that would be considered a very good stout. Truly flavorful, especially for the style.

Oct 14, 2016

ichorNet from Massachusetts

4.56/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Ah, one of the absolute best American-made porters I've ever had the opportunity to imbibe (and which I have done so frequently, I might add!), now available in cans. It's a beautiful time to be a New England craft beer fan, to be sure. Mayflower's outstanding porter makes a flawless jump to the aluminum playing field and I, for one, am glad to be supporting this new movement.

Pours a very deep brown with ruby highlights, bearing an interminable khaki head with mild, spotty lacing. Reduces to a half-finger after about ten minutes. Body is mostly translucent but bears slight edges of coloration if held up to particularly bright light. Absolutely gorgeous.

Nose is multifaceted with notes of candied pecans, roasty malts, coffee, cocoa powder, doughy yeast and bready, toffee-leaning malts. Absolutely a dark beer lover's dream, and at only 5.5%! Pinch me. Very light touch of diacetyl (to style) helps highlight some of the sweeter notes here, with some caramel tones coming through lightly. Can detect a very slight hint of herbal and grassy English hops as well, alongside a very slight peat smoke component, which comes from a small amount of peated malt added in the grist. Overall, this is definitely one of the best smelling dark beers I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. And all this without any extra ingredients. Malt mastery at hand here!

Flavor is deep, dark, round and roasty with a lot of complex malt character coming out, especially if the beer is allowed to warm to nearly-room temperature. Alternating waves of nutty toffee, pecan, caramel, brown bread and herbal notes, the latter of which is likely due to utilization of Glacier hops. Both of the hops (Pilgrim and Glacier) used in this beer are dual-purpose varietals of very different acid profiles, allowing both to shine in their own way. I love the combination of herbal, woody, smoky and malty flavors here and consider this the high water mark of widely-distributed New England porter beer.

Feel is soft, round and supple with low-medium carbonation and a very smooth feel. This is about as close to nitro as you can get without actually getting there, and it's brilliant. Suits itself well to a can and to a Summer barbecue/bonfire or early-Autumn pig roast. Plan accordingly so you can get some sixers of this and host your own. This is legitimately one of the best dark beers made in New England, and it makes that statement without hype, as it's done so for about 8 years. Pure excellence!

May 28, 2016

NolaHopHead from Louisiana

4.06/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle. Pours deep brown, thin tan head disappears quickly, no lacing. Vbig roasty aroma, cocoa and mild coffee. Full flavor in this porter, deep bitter chocolate and coffee, mild char dry bitter finish. Mouthfeel is thin and slick. Overall very good porter.

Apr 15, 2016