Java Porter
Bloomington Brewing Company

16oz undated can poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 5.2% ABV 27 IBU per can. The beer pours bright medium brown in color with garnet highlights and light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Aroma is moderate strength cold brewed coffee. Taste is more black cold brew coffee with the dark roasted malt notes of ashy bitterness creeping in behind the coffee. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good.

 

 

Had Java Porter back in 2018-2019 at Mother Bear’s, Bloomington, Indiana, on draft into pint tumbler, and on nitro at Lennie’s/Bloomington Brewpub. Revisited in 2024, poured from pint can, bottom stamped (apparently) canned on "11/09[?]/23," into nonic pint.

Pours deep brown, almost black until backlit, and then a surprising but lovely deep ruby-amber, with clarity, with big, creamy, light-tan head, and excellent retention, leaving nice sketchy lace down the glass. Sweet malt and herbal aromas off pour, then a little fruit aroma, and aromas of mild roast malts and a little coffee as warms. Begins malty smooth and creamy, with a bit of hop bite, then mild roast malts and a little smooth coffee,
which carry into a clean finish, although a bit too much like cola.

Surprisingly light coffee porter, but a very pleasant, sessionable companion, if a tad too cola-like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A-Brown amber in the class, not much carbonation, tries to leave behind some lacing

S-Coffee, malt, molasses and some nuts.

T-Starts with good deal of coffee, roast and nuts. Not bitterness. More of a java brown ale than a java porter.

M-Light to medium bodied, not much carbonation, watery as well.

O-A nice coffee note but the watery mouthfeel was big drawback. At the end of the day the balance wasn't where it needed to be.

 

 

poured to a generic pint from a new batch at the brewpub from the tap a deep dark chocolatey brown leaning to black with a fairly thin as short lasting mocha head with little retention.

subtle aroma of black coffee and roasted malts.

coffee forward, and not particularly good coffee unfortunately. hints of roasted malt, biscuits and light chocolate in the wayback.

pretty thin, mildly bitter, not alot to this one.

drinkable - yes, but why ?

>>>

had a raster of the nitro-tap side by side and the beer is without question better from nitro-tap... much more creamy, nice lace, better balance all the way around. in the unlikely event i sample this one again, it'll be from nitro.

The porter came to my table with a very nice head, if a little light. It had an excellent dark color, very deep. It had an excellent coffee scent that matched up well with the roasted and chocolate smell of most porters. It went down very smooth and was easy to drink. It had a good porter taste, with excellent hints of chocolate and coffee. I wish I would've known they had this on nitro before ordering it from the table flyer, too.

Pours a very dark but clear brown with crimson highlights when held against the light. Less than a finger's worth of fine, tan head that breaks down quickly but retains a decent cling. The nose is predictably dominated by the smell of medium-roast coffee, though even then it's rather muted. Coffee likewise dominates the taste and is complemented by some sweet, lightly roasted malt flavors, but not as much roastiness as one would expect from a porter. The mouthfeel is crisper than expected but too watery. This beer goes down easily, but isn't particularly drinkable in the sense of being interesting.

I'm not a big fan of coffee in my beer. If you are, you would probably really like this one. I wish I could note that by its numerical rating because my personal tastes are really influencing my rating here. Uses coffee from a local roaster too which is pretty cool. Very nice porter, but with a ton of coffee in there! A pretty strong beer, the website lists it with an OG=1.075, with a strong hop presence. Like I said, if you like coffee in your beer, this would probably be great.