Scenario
Melvin Brewing

L: black. Maybe some ruby if held up to a light. Biege head at half inch settles down to coat the top and clings to the glass at the edges.
S: roasted malt
T: 100% porter. Nothing off, everything on.
F: slight carbonation. Smooth.
O: the real deal: a porter with no tricks.

 

12oz can, didn't bother with the date since I knew it would be good and its my 7th time having it

Poured at fridge temp into a weizen glass

Pours a deep chocolate brown with a mocha colored head

Nose follows, roasty, slightly earthy and dark. Hops are present and clear.

Not too bitter, but the ibus do pack a fair punch.

Body is fairly thin, but warming and nearly crushable

Overall I'm certainly biased as this is a top 3 favorite porter of mine and will keep buying it when I see it

 

 

 

Poured from a 12oz can, canned on October 26th 2021.

On the pour a relatively small light brown head just under 1 finger forms then relatively slowly dissapates to just a light ring around the glass. The body is a dark coffee like brown that lets some light through, but to my dismay the light coming through revealed floaters. Small chunks of something much lighter colored than the beer itself on closer inspection. I suspect it's yeast but it seems quite odd for the style. Once I look at another can of this I will update to make sure this isn't a fluke, along with the head as well.

Aroma is more along the lines of what you'd expect from the style. A sweet chocolatey base malt with some figgy esters and light floral slightly fruity sweet hops. Not overly hopped by any means the malts are very solidly taking the front row here, but the hops are still unique in this one.

Flavor is similar to the aroma but dials back some of the sweetness with a nice balance of roasty and some hop bitterness. The bitterness does come in two subtle waves first a roasty almost burt but pleasant stout like bitterness, then the more vegetal floral hop bitterness slowly and by no means overwhelmingly takes over. For the style this is a pretty good tasting beer.

Feel is relatively big but not quite velvety smooth like I'd want out of a porter there really isn't a lot of head on this one, so all the mouthfeel is coming from the malts which thankfully are plentiful giving it a good body still, just without the creamy smoothness. Long finish on this one with the malts taking back over and coating the mouth.

Overall, it's a good beer, and I didn't know anything was off until the 2nd one which I actually poured in the glass to look at. I'm not quite sure why there would be yeast floaters in a canned porter so it seems a bit odd, and the head was a bit disappointing, but everything else was on par in this one. Technically my first "robust" porter, but based on the style guidelines and the definition of the word robust, this is a good example of the style.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sudsy trails on the glass. It smelled of roasted coffee, chocolate, toffee and toasted caramel. Sweet chocolate taste with toasted caramel, toffee and bold coffee.

 

 

 

 

This is honestly terrible in 2021, watery, not much mal flavor at all, they have the audacity to call this robust while it's flavorless and watery. This just arrived today. Horrible.

 

a no frills but fully exceptional specimen of a porter, they really have this dialed in, and for all the well deserved love their hoppy beer gets, i think this is a standout in their lineup, all the more special because of its apparent lack of uniqueness, its only its overall quality that makes it memorable, truly delicious! its deep and dark and thicker than a lot of them these days, with a frothy creamy thick tan head and pretty lace and fine retention, no light coming through this, but not overly viscous either, looks right on. aroma and flavor have a lot of roast, quite bitter although with a good bit of bready and sweeter crystal malt in the center of it for balance. caramel and toffee there in that layer, but this isnt sweet at all. instead strong coffee and a lightly burnt note come up, a hint of vanilla essence, and a dark organic chocolate thing as well, not overly complex just really deep on the malt side with good nuance, balance, and heft. this seems to me like a perfect fall beer, especially in the morning, but i would drink this anytime. its robust as porters go, but about as professional and refined as they come, and it drinks quickly because of that, hard to set down a glass of beer this good. subtle licorice and espresso on the swallow, frothy and foamy feel, creamy and rich, but clean at the end. brilliant beer not relying on additives to make it special. lovely!

 

On tap at George Keeley, NYC.
Pours a mostly black color with notes of dark mahogany. A well retaining moderate head yields some lacing action.
The nose begins with notes of dark toast, biscuit and dry nutty malts, along with subtle earthy hops. Soon, roasty tones of bitter dark chocolate and coffee dark roast begin to dominate the aroma, along with complimentary notes of licorice and minty grassy hops.
The taste begins with clean and bright notes of, slightly acrid and evoking an espresso shot accompanied by a lemon wedge. There is bitterness from the flavors of roasted, lightly charred malts, evoking dark nutty flavors, crispy dark toast, and raw cocoa beans. The minty hops offer a grassy brightness and interact nicely with the flavors touch of licorice and peppermint.
Medium to full bodied, smooth mouthfeel and moderate carbonation that packs a bite . Dry, toasty and acrid finish that evokes a nice espresso.
Very drinkable and elegantly crafted. Well done for the style with a nice toasty and well hopped bitterness going on.