Groove Train
Three Heads Brewing

On tap at Three Heads Brewing in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a dark-ish black color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like very roasted malt, licorice, smoke, and dark chocolate.

This is pretty solid, and old-school-ish, with tons of roasty malt bitterness, just a hint of chocolatey sweetness, and a touch of hop bitterness.

This is medium bodied, with a crisp bitterness on the back end, and a pretty solid drinkability.

This is one of the better 3HB beers that I’ve had in a while.

 

 

Dark pour. Smells terrific. Dark and malty. The taste isn't bad. Roasted malt with bitter coffee finish. Unfortunately its way too carbonated. It really takes away from it. It's hard to really enjoy it's character. If I want heavy carbonation I'll drink a Pepsi.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Dark brown pour... nearly black with 2 fingers of fluffy tannish head. Nice ring of lacing.

S: Roasted grains, espresso, and cocoa.

T.F: Roasted malts... burned sugars and coffee notes. Mildly sweet up front... followed by dark chocolate and roast bitterness. Light bodied... well carbonated.

O: Has the flavors you'd expect from a nice porter. Too light in body for the style, but otherwise a pretty solid offering One I'd have again.

It is always fruitful to visit The Beer and Beverage Shoppe on Roseville Avenue off of the Fruitville Pike since they seem to have a plethora of new beers to try. This is just one recent example.

From the Bottle: "40 IBUs". Too bad since I would be curious to (at least) know the artist's name.

I Pop!ped the cap & went right into a C-Line pour that instantly created just under three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with excellent retention, leaving loads of lacing in its wake. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose smelled of bittersweet chocolate and nuts, like pecans or almonds. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium, about on par for the style. The taste was very much of bittersweet chocolate commingled with a pleasant nuttiness and a light smokiness. It made for a very pleasant interlude as I contemplated it in comparison to yesterday's lesser version of the style. Finish was semi-dry with a bittersweet chocolate/coffee/smokiness that lingered well after the swallow. Now, if they would just deign to put this one in CANs ...

 

Poured into grip shaped goblet: color is solid dark brown, head is tan and presents at least 1-1.5 inches thick, fine to small bubbles, great lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is malty, light toffee and chocolate sweetness, limited roast and coffee flavors.

Taste is similar with more pronounced roast character, but thinner chocolate flavors than the aroma eludes. Hops are neutral with some grass.

Mouthfeel is a touch acidic and drying, less sweetness and more dry roast like presence.

Overall a solid porter with light to moderate sweetness and slightly acidic presence.

12 ounce bottle poured into a tulip glass.

L---Impenetrable dark brown color. Held up to sunlight, there's some reddish/amber tinge around the edges. Nice light brown head with no retention and no real lacing.

S---Full of roasted malts. Bitter chocolate and some coffee. Not complex, but right in line with what I'm looking for in a porter.

T---Follows the nose exactly. Bitter chocolate and some coffee. Strong roasted malt flavor.

F---Medium feel. I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit thicker. Good carbonation perhaps makes it feel a bit lighter.

O---A proper porter. Wish I saved it for when Wifey was home, she would have really liked this one. I won't seek it out, but I'd pick it up again if it was there.

 

Three Heads Brewing "Groove Train"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle without production codes or freshness dating

Notes via stream of consciousness: It's poured a nice looking glass of dark beer. The head is about an inch high, and it's a creamy dark tan. It seems to be holding well over its opaque brown-black body. Only a glimmer of dark mahogany brown sneaks through at the base of the glass. Better than the appearance is the aroma. It's chocolatey and roasty, well actually more roasty than chocolatey, but they're nicely intertwined. Let's hope the flavor is just as good... well, unfortunately it's not. It's not as rich as the aroma would have you to believe for one thing, and then what's there is somewhat muddled. The roastiness is more ashen or charred than coffee-like, and the chocolate is more like bakers chocolate than the dark chocolate that the aroma suggested. There's some coffee-like nuttiness but not much, and it gets kind of lost in the mix along with some yeasty fruitiness. There's an acidity to it, most likely coming from the dark malts themselves, and that accentuates the 40 IBUs of bitterness it has. It's quite dry, somewhat acidic, and ashen in the finish, lingering for a very long time. Some of the coffee-like nuttiness and yeasty fruitiness are there as well. In the mouth it's medium-light in body and delicately crisp. Looking back, the head has held well and there's some pretty decent lacing.
Review# 6,314