Maple Porter - Pilot
Bootlegger's Brewery

On tap at Bootlegger's, served in a Mason jar.

A: A strange-looking porter - lighter colored and muddier than most. Not much head or carbonation occurring.

S: This was the high point of the beer - some strong maple aromas and sweetness with malts.

T: Not heavy on the maple here. It was high on malt and slightly bitter, but not overly.

M: I liked this as a medium-bodied porter. It wasn't syrupy or thick.

D: A pretty standard porter, but fun with maple nose to it. It wasn't complex and I liked its straightforwardness.

On-tap at Bootlegger's

A: The pour is a turbid brown with a finger of off-white/tan head which has moderate retention and minimal lacing.

S: Smells quite woody, leading me to believe there was maple wood rather than maple syrup in this beer. Quite a lot of roasted malts with a slight charred aroma. Plenty of dark chocolate and some cocoa powder which is enjoyable and provides a bit of smoothness.

T: The flavor is not quite as good as the aroma, unfortunately. It's fairly harsh and overly bitter. Very heavy on the roasted and charred character without any of the residual sweetness of the nose. There is a bit of a coffee flavor, but it's reminiscent of coffee grounds.

M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation.

D: I liked the nose here, but the flavor was just too big of a drop off for me. Quite harsh, but perhaps that would mellow out with time.

On-tap at Bootlegger's,

A: Pours a dark brown with a mild brown head, average retention.

S: Nice sweet malt and maple with a heavy dose of roasted malt.

T: The sweetness in the nose goes away and leads to a flavour of roasted malt and coffee. Burnt flavours show up and dominate the flavour at times. Has its good points and bad points.

M: Medium-bodied, thin at times, light carbonation.

D: An interesting enough pilot, but the flavour is pretty one-dimensional and the flavour isn't that attractive, just wish there was more maple flavour to balance it out.