Walker's Reserve - Porter
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

I managed to happen across a few bottles on a random shelf and bought 2 for $5.99 a piece. Didn't realize how old they were without a bottle date. The cap seems to suggest it's from 2010, but it could also be the date that the beer won an World Beer Cup award.

The beer was great, btw. Aged beautifully, with just a hint of dark fruit that develops with age. Otherwise, smooth, with nice chocolate and cherry qualities. Still poured a reddish brown with a 1 cm caramel head. Very glad to have tried it.

 

On tap at Firestone Walker Taproom Restaurant

A: Pours dark brown with slight copper tones and a frothy khaki head that settles to a light layer and leaves a little spotty lacing.

S: Roasty, earthy, coffee, bittersweet chocolate, dark fruit, faint smoke, earthy herbal notes, and toffee sweetness.

T: Roasty, black coffee, a little dark chocolate, faint smoke, a little dark fruit, plum and cherry, earthy herbal notes, and toffee sweetness.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation.

O: Happy to see this one brought back in their throwback series. Really solid porter with a lot of flavor packed in a very reasonable ABV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was incredibly disappointed by this beer. It was thin and watery with very little carbonation. When the best aspect of a beer is how it looks in the glass you know you've got a problem.

This is a pitch black porter with a very thin white head. The smell is rich and of molasses, plum, and a little bit of alcohol. The flavor is of molasses, plum, toffee, chocolate, and a little coffee. It is a very rich, sweet, and heavy. It is incredibly smooth and the finish is very creamy. This is a really great dessert porter. Some people would probably complain that it’s a little too sweet, but I am actually kind of into that with porters. It is everything that their Velvet Merlin stout isn’t, which in my opinion is good. My only complaint would be that it’s only 6% alcohol and I think you could have put more into this, maybe even made it an imperial stout without having the alcohol be overwhelming with the kind of bold flavors it has going on here. I am not really a big fan of Firestone Walker, but I think this is the best beer I have ever tried of theirs hands down.

Reviewed in Roger Protz' "300 More Beers To Try Before You Die", a sequel to his CAMRA classic.

 

 

Substantial deep brown pour, lighter brown head on it, mixed with some red color thrown in there. Aroma wasn't pungent, some roasted malt, a little constrained compared to a lot of their other dark brews.

Taste was good and chewy, nutty, tiny bit of chocolate malt perceptible. Hopping was up there, but the bitterness was not. A solid beer, but in the bomber format, meh, grab a sixer of velvet merkin instead.

 

For 5 bucks a bottle this is a bargain, not up there with the very best porters ive had, but this is still a very good beer. If you are a fan of porters this is an excellent choice, great aroma and sweet choclatey flavour.very good.