Oil Piers Porter
Surf Brewery

Poured a pint glass-full on a Sunday morning to help get the creative juices flowing.

Nearly pitch black body with only traces of color towards the edges of the glass.
Head resembles that of a cola beverage, big translucent bubbles that quickly disappear.
Can't seem to smell a thing!
Taste of dark berries, espresso, mineral, smoke. Bitter, as though someone took a shot of espresso and poured it into a black lager.
Mouth feel seems very light for a porter, but very pleasant for the average brew. Light as a feather.
For a porter, pretty lame. For a tasty beverage, very pleasant with a respectful buzz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the bottle from The Boulevard in San Diego for six bucks. Dark brown color in the Affligem chalice with an admirable head. A pleasant foaminess on the tongue and lots of suds in the glass.

A mellow mouthful of dark roasted barley. Some warm malty richness with a deep, scratchy aftertaste. Grainy with a little bitterness.

The sudsy mouthfeel is very pleasant though this stuff is not otherwise of much distinction. It's a pleasant dark, watery quaff.

 

 

 

 

 

The pour is a very dark brown color with a small off-white head. Nose is mostly roasted and coffee grounds with a hint of cocoa. Maybe a little bit of toasted bread on the nose. The flavor is a little bit watery to me. A touch on the bitter side, lots of roasted malts, and some coffee and dark chocolate. Pretty run of the mill porter.

On nitro tap at Tony's Darts Away in Burbank, CA.

Pours a clear super dark brown with a dense khaki head that lasts. A foamy curtain of lace forms on the glass on the drink down. Smell is of roasted malt and some burnt coffee aromas. Taste is the same but seems a bit watery. This beer as a creamy mouthfeel but is thin. Overall, this is a pretty average porter and I am not too sure that having it on nitro is doing much to help this one.

The second of the lineup I tried when I stopped by.

This is one of the best-looking beers I have had poured. A deep opaque black, with a massive 2-finger creamy tan head that stuck around for the entire length of consumption. Perfect sip rings cling to the glass. Really a nice-looking beer. The nose was full of chocolate and roasted coffee. Really strong.

Where I appreciated what the nitro did to the appearance of this beer, I really didn't care for the feel of this. This felt really thin and lacking in depth. It really didn't hold up the style that well. The flavors were also a little on the weak side. Thin flavors of weak coffee and mild roasted malts. I expected more from this with the strong aroma, but is was a little muddled. This is probably one I wouldn't revisit again.