Black Magic Porter
Carter's Brewing

Tap pour at the brewery. Served chilled in a nonic glass.
Dark brown colored body. Long lasting tan head. Leaves behind a jagged ring of lacing.
Aroma of roasted chocolate malts, vanilla, and a touch of floral hops.
Taste is roasted chocolate malts, with some caramel, and a brief coffee appearance. Mellow aftertaste.
Smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Coats the mouth. Good carbonation.
Good for style, and smooth to drink.

 

 

Served on tap in a pint glass

Appearance – The beer is served a nearly pitch black color with a one finger head of fizzy off white foam. The head fades very rapidly, leaving just a trace of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell –The aroma of the brew is heaviest of chocolate smell with a good showing of caramel and vanilla sweetness. Along with these are some lighter notes of coffee and a bit of a creamy smell.

Taste – The taste begins with a nice roasty flavor along with some hints of darker chocolate and a little bit of crème and caramel sweetness. As the flavor moves on other darker flavors of coffee and a very light earthy hop comes to the tongue. With a little bit of loss of some of the sweet and a little more chocolate, a tiny bit of cola, and coffee coming to the tongue, one is left with a rather roasty, but still smooth flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the medium side with a carbonation level that is average as well. For the more moderate abv., but yet darker flavors the feel is rather nice, balancing the abv. with the porter style rather nicely.

Overall – A fairly nice porter overall. It has a nice chocolaty flavor with a very easy drinking feel. A quite nice lower abv. porter. For it’s mild abv. of only 5 % (for a porter) this is a great brew overall.

 

 

 

 

 

this is a unique porter, hoppy as anything, and probably more of an american porter than an english one, but its delicious just the same. it pours inky black with only a thin mocha colored head. the nose is very dark roasty malted barley, and even a touch of oatmeal. there is a cascade hop presence, or something similar. then flavor starts off like a normal porter, chocolatey and rich, still yeasty, and fresh. then in the finish a big hop wave washes all but the darkest malts away and leaves a sticky bitterness in the mouth. its a little under carbonated in terms of mouthfeel, but the body is massive and it still feels smooth and slick. this is a nice porter, kind of different for the style. could easily have two or three of these.

edit: this seems more refined and tame now seven years after the original review above. it hops have dropped out a lot, they must have scaled them back in the recipe, and the english grain character seems way more prominent now, maybe i just know what im tasting better these days, but this seems more classically styled to me than it used to. tasty and well made beer, carters just keeps getting better and better!

 

had on-tap at the tasting room at the brewery. first as part of a sampler flight, and then a full pint. the other beers that were in the flight were good too (Brown Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Tripel), but this was my favorite.

was a dark brown almost black color. thin white head. aroma and flavor are typical of a good porter, very malty with notes of chocolate and coffee. roasty, but also a little sweet. carbonation was fairly low, with thin to medium body.

at $3 a pint, drinkability can't be beat!

A: Pours a dark brown, almost black. A small beige head forms and leaves some light lace behind.
S: Roasted malt is dominate as a good porter should be. Some chocolate and toffee aromas as well. There is even some peppermint that is very unique.
T: A huge roasted malt flavor. Chocolate, coffee, and toffee are dominate. Just the way I like porters to be.
M/D: A medium body with a crisp snap of carbonation. Easy and smooth to drink. A very sessionable beer.

This is another good beer from Carter's. This is a very good brewery, and a beer I highly recommended.