Black Bear Porter
Stone Coast Brewing Co.

 

On-tap 7/17/08 at Pitcher's Pub, in Cumberland, RI, served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep dark brown color, with a thin beige head that fades slowly and leaves a decent lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of roasted malts, black coffee, some chocolate and a touch of hops.

T: The taste is very malty as you would expect with strong flavors of black coffee and dark chocolate. There's a mild but hops presence but enough to bring a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and very smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean and dry.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, very good representation of style, if you're in the mood for the style this is a good beer to drink for a while.

Burnt umber suffused with dark brick red... that isn't quite opaque when sunlight is permitted entry. Generous red-orange highlights can be seen along the bottom. At the opposite end of the glass, the butter caramel colored cap is some kind of attractive and is more than passable when it comes to glass coverage.

The nose is pleasantly porteresque. It features just the right amount of roasted maltiness to keep it firmly within the style boundaries. Bittersweet chocolate is much more prominent than coffee-with-cream. Hops don't make much of an olfactory impact. So far, so good.

I like hearty, full-flavored American porters that favor the stout end of the style spectrum rather than the brown ale end. Black Bear Porter is just what the doctor ordered. It's chock full of flavor and is one of the better versions that I've sampled in quite some time.

Stone Coast has used an amount of malt (most likely pale, caramel, chocolate and roasted) that would put some stouts to shame. Each greedy mouthful is full-to-bursting with darkest caramel, chocolate fudge and a light dusting of ground coffee beans. An underlying citric hoppiness contributes as well. Warming results in a well-earned taste score increase.

The body/mouthfeel isn't as huge as the flavor, but then I need to keep reminding myself that this isn't a stout. The beer is wonderfully smooth and hangs on for quite some time after the swallow. It's clingy, but in a good way.

This Stone Coast offering is better than either 420 IPA or 840 IPA (which is actually a DIPA). That's quite an admission for someone who considers himself a hophead. If your passion is well-brewed porters, find yourself some Black Bear, crack the crown and enjoy. Bottoms up!

Picked up in the Black Booty BIF. Poured a not so "barely" black color. Even with a bad pour there was a nice frothy tan colored head that had some staying power, although did dissipate towards the edge of the glass. Left some limited viscous on the edge of the glass.

The nose is limited overall but some malty and certain roasty characteristic. Some coffee and chocolate notes as well. Lighter earthy hop notes as well. I "bearly" could pick out some sweeter molasses but became more apparent when warmed.

The taste was more prominent than the nose indicated. A good base on the malt side with some complexity mostly with roast and darker caramel notes blending well together. There was a nice astringent taste in the finish that left a lingering coffee finish. There is a slight lactic finish as well that came out more as it warmed and enhanced the coffee taste with a slight latte finish.

The body was more on the full side but a good in between mid and full. Carbonation was light and allowed the nice roast flavor to come out. A nice porter overall that I could "bear" to have another.

Monday is the pbr special at Delaney's in new haven, where the cask beer du jour is the black bear porter. might as well go for this.

This will be my third beer after a westvleteren 12 and a draft hacker-pschorr oktoberfest. I'm having some mashed taters with it.

Pours like a guinness with cascading bubbles and a dominant, milk chocolatey aroma. 1" head.

Taste is smooth and airy, with a really creamy mouthfeel. A little bit too smooth on the front end but still pretty drinkable. Mild roasted malt character shines on this one. Many might mistake this for an abnormally good glass of guinness, but it's far more nuanced. A must try on cask or draft.

Bottle says Stone Coast Brewing and Sunday River Brewing. Who the hell makes this beer? Whoever it is, they deserve some credit, because it's a pretty good one. The color is a beautiful dark brown/red, and the head is decent. It's nice to see a porter that's not just black. The smell is the only low point, as it's a little bland except for a metallic hint. The flavor, however, makes up for any minor shortcomings. It is rich but never goes overboard with notes of caramel, chocolate, and coffee followed by a slight bittersweet twang in the finish. A very solid porter indeed.

Pours a deep, dark brown color with ample carbonation. Aroma is sweet and malty with hints of coffee. Taste is much of the same, except that the coffee flavor is more pronounced at the back of the tongue. There's some alcohol taste as well but nothing too bad. I would say it's average for the style but a good stab still.

On tap at David Coperfield's. Opaque black with a white head. This is a sweet stout,with caramel and some chocolate malt. it's OK as a stout, I don't know if the Cascade hops add a lot. There is roastiness in the taste and in the aroma. Noticeable lace. Above average carbonation.

Pours a five-finger light tan head that fades quickly to a thin layer leaving a good lace. Black color. Roasted coffee nose. Light carbonation and heavy bodied. Flavor is chocolate and roasted coffee that finishes as bitter coffee. $1.40 for a 12oz bottle from Tully's Beer & Wine Wells, Me.

I rather enjoyed this beer on a cool march evening. Overall, Black Bear is a very drinkable and tasty porter. The lack of head was unfortunate, but that could have been because of a poorly hand-washed cleaned glass, or because i purchased the beer on a whim at a store that may have had it on the shelf for a while.

Toasted yet sweet smell yields to a solid malt character, and a hint of caramel. Nice mouth feel that leaves your mouth asking for more. I drank the first bottle before i even realized, which certainly speaks well for the drinkability.

My only real objections to this beer were purely cosmetic; disappointing head, and a color a little on the light side for my liking.

On the other hand i found the taste and mouthfeel very enjoyable. Certainly a solid American Porter.

Appearance- pours a muck brownish black with 1 1/2 finger head. Some lacing.

Smell- Sweet milk chocolate, a subtle hop edge, and maybe some molasses, but that's about it. Smells pleasant.

Taste- Mostly chocolate malt with some darker black malt as well. A little bit of coffee flavor, and a bit of molasses. Not bad. A touch of roasted bitterness at the end.

Mouthfeel- Just a little bit too much carbonation for me. It distracts from the malty goodness. Thickness is about right I think.

Drinkability- A sweet and tastey brew, but not sure I'd like to drink more than one in a single sitting... maybe two.

Labelled with "Sunday River Brewing Co." and "Stone Coast Brewing Co."

Black with a nice pillowy tan/light brown head, floating sediment, and nice sheets of lace. Oxidized dark malt aromas and flavors. Seems light bodied but could be due to the overall issues.

BOM club beer that aged very poorly... actually strange it was a July shipment when it's only avail in the winter per the SRBC website.

Per BOM notes:
IBU est. 25-35
5% ABV
Malts: 2-row, Caramel, Wheat, Black, Chocolate, and Roasted
Hops: Chinook, Willamette, and Cascade

Per SCBC website:
Finished with Cascade
Available 11/1 to 2/28

Pours black with only minimal ruby highlights when held to direct light. Semi-sticky lacing on the sides of the glass, collar around the beer. Looks more like a stout than your typical porter. A bit of a fruitier nose than normal -- roast malts, coffee, and a bit of raspberry smell. On the tongue, hop bitterness at the front of the tongue, then roasted malts and a touch of fruit at the mid-palate. The finish is rather sweet for the style, with that fruit note hanging around. Mouthfeel is typical for the style -- medium bodied with adequate carbonation, but nothing over the top. Overall, this is an excellent session beer, and a strong example of an American porter.

This Porter really impressed me, however I'm not sure which Brewing Co. to give the credit too...At the top of the lable it says: " Sunday River Brewing co." on the side of the lable it clearly states: "stone coast brewing co."...??? are they one in the same?

AP: Etremely dark brown, totally opaque. 1" frothy and thick mocha-brown head that leaves thick and intricate lacing all around th glass. Looks great.

Nose: Very sweet malted barley, chocolate, roasted coffee, very aromatic and inticing.

Taste: This is one heady Porter! with very RIS-like qualities. Dark and very bold roasted barley malt flavor that's sweet and roasty, it has major amounts of oakie and black-coffee flavors with a very nice and subtle leafy hop at the end. Balanced out very well!

MF: This is a full-bodied brew that also has a nice clean "snap" to it. Although rather lively feeling, it also has a very substantial effect on the palate.

DA: Very bad-ass Porter that almost crosses over into Stout-ville.

Poures a deep deep dark brown with some ruby hue thruout when help up to the light a large fluffy light brown head sits atop leaving a nice ring of lace as it setteled slowly.Fruity as all get out in the nose wow juicy fruit dominates with some caramel thrown in everything takes a backseat to the fruitiness here and I love it.Man I really wanted that same fruitiness if not at least some of it to carry over into the flavor but sadly it really didnt its dryer porter with some notes of molasses and unsweetened chocolate but the main show is dry earthy finish like a unroasted nut almost.What a start to this porter but an unremarkable finish but it is still got nice flavors dont get me wrong I really enjoyed but man those aromas were killer.

Had on tap at Cambridge Common:

Quite a good offering. Poured (as Common generally does) with only a small tan head. Big aroma of chocolate, other dried sweets. Very full bodied - thick but not syrupy, almost like a fluffy milkshake. tasted sort of like one as well - big milk chocolate sweetness up front, switching to a darker variety as it swells the palate. maybe a little gingerbread in there. little to no carbonation, but since it wasnt syrupy, that didnt seem to matter.

not the most complex porter i've had, but a good example of the style and one that i think i could drink fairly regularly.

part of Microbeer of Month Club

The only thing I really didn't like about this is the silly label. It pours a dark and silky. Aroma-wise, it was very different than I expected. It had the full maltiness but it also had a slight sour smell - almost like an Oud Bruin or so. It was quite interesting and after the initial shock - I found quite welcome. The taste also had this sour quality. I really liked it. It was sweet with chocolate flavors with the malt but a slight sour cherry taste. It was far more in the nose than in the palate.

An interesting and tasty porter.

Thanks to egajdzis for this...
Appears a dark brown with a black body and red edges. A one finger, tan head slowly fades out into a cap that refuses to yield.
The smell is of roasty malt, cream, chocolate, nuts, and vanilla.
Taste is of the same aromas. Perhaps a hint of coffee as well.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with roasted malts, and bitter cocoa clinging to the palate. It's slightly thin but hardly noticeable.

Received in late July as part of my MicroBeerClub shipment.

This brew poured black with ruby undertones, with the tan head sustaining quite well. Nose is a hint of sweet cocoa and not much else. Taste is of cocoa, a hint of coffee, and finishes with a slight bittering hop. Mouthfeel is medium bodied but not overly creamy. Overall drinkability is pretty good. This porter is not outstanding but is worth a try.

Poured a very dark ruby colour. Head was thick to start, but dissipated to a thin layer of bubbles. Lacing and bubbles left on the sides of the glass. Aroma was light, but roasted caramel and dark chocolate detectable. Bitter chocolate, roasted coffee and bittter orange peel flavours noticeable. Taste remained very bitter all the way through. It also left an acidic and metalic spiciness on my tongue that pulled down the drinkability level. Finished quite dry. Mouthfeel was a little too thin as well.