El Robusto Porter
Papago Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed from the tap at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival’s Southwest Festival of Beers. Papago calls this one an imperial porter, though it won bronze at the 2005 GABF in the “other strong ale or lager” category. Poured into a small tasting glass.

Inky dark brown with hints of cranberry and a frothy half-finger head of light tan.

Interesting aroma. Smells like a brewhouse filled with sweet boiling wort. Very cereal grainy. I also get coffee, toast and some earthy hops.

The cereal grain continues into the flavor — it’s almost like I'm drinking unsweetened wort. Hints of coffee and some toast pop up in the background. Overall, it’s fairly light, with crisp finish.

Light, prickly carbonation creates moderate fizz as the beers moves about. The medium-light body is smooth but a little thin. Crisp for a porter.

An odd one from Papago. Easy-drinking for a porter, but it tastes unfinished.

Pours a deep dark brown color (I thought my friends growler was brown, but it was clear) with a tan head. Looks sturdy.

Aromas are very chocolate forward. There are also seems hints of roasted grainy malts as well.

Taste is typical porter. Doesn't strike me as being a baltic though. Nutty, chocolate, coffee beans, and a background of mildly sweet cream. Finish is crisp and lightly bitter.

Mouthfeel is decent. Seems slightly thin though.

Drinkability is pretty good. Solid porter, but not quite the powerhouse I was expected when it was poured.

Appearance is dark coffee color with a cappuccino tan head. Nice clarity for a darker beer.
Aroma of coffee and dark malts.
Tastes as it smells with a nice brown ale finish.
Mouthfeel seems light for a porter but seems appeoriatte given the robust flavor.
Drinkable coffee fwd porter.

The best of three Papago contracted stouts and porters that have been talked about by locals, enjoyed on tap at Papago. Opaque black with lovely off-brown head, lacey. Coffee roast chocolate aroma. Good for something coffee, I am not a coffee drinker. Above average mouthfeel.

Poured from the growler with about an eighth-inch, creamy tanned head. Not as tight in the lace as from the tap, but that makes sense. OK retention. The color is black, with only the faintest ruby highlighting when held to the light.

The nose to me comes off as a little bit like wort: brew salts and pelleted hops. The malt notes are present, with bittersweet chocolate ringing the bell. On the flavor end, in this iteration I don't find the roasted malts coming in quite as hard. There's definitely some balance between sweet and bitter, but it's leaning a little sweet on this growler. Definitely some dark fruitiness, and an element of unexplained spicing. The hops taste is dried and packaged, pretty earthy but slightly metallic as well.

Light end of the mouthfeel spectrum, even a hair watery. At the end of the tasting process there's more roast than I found in the middle stages, but the alcohol is hidden nicely. More or less a good homebrew, but I would have to recommend it from the carbonated tap.