Porter
The Civil Life Brewing Company

 

I had this on draft 10/2/23 @ the Beer Temple.

Opaque brown appearance.

Nice tan head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lacing remained.

Medium roast coffee bean, dark chocolate, mild cream & faint fresh earth notes in the nose.

Creamy, medium mouthfeel.

Fresh earth, cream & medium roast coffee bean flavors up front; dark chocolate notes on the finish.

Earthy, cold weather porter excellence. I'd have another...and another!

Black in color with minimal light penetration. There’s a half inch of creamy brown foam on top. The aroma is of bitter dark malt. I’m tasting bitter dark malt. The mouth dry, crisp, and creamy smooth.

 

Pours dark brown-black cola color with a solid but small cap of dark khaki-colored head that shrinks a little bit, but sticks around forever and leaves plenty of lacing. Smells like roasted and slightly charred malts, a little bit of coffee in there too. Flavor is that rich, almost burnt maltiness with notes of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. Medium body, smooth mouthfeel without very much carbonation feel. Unexpectedly high bitterness to close.

Honestly tastes too robust and much too bitter to be a true-to-style English Porter. Bitterness is too great and lingers for far longer than it really should for this style; may be more in line with an American Porter to be honest. I've really been thoroughly enjoying many of CIvil's Life's beer and was eager to try this one, but it was a real let down.

 

 

 

On tap. Poured an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It smelled of coffee, chocolate and toasted caramel. Nice roasted flavor with coffee and dark chocolate.

 

Cask poured at local Side Project Cellar. Nice black pour, with tan head. Just barely a hint of red sneaking through on the edges of the glass when held to the light. Light smell, clean roasted malt, coffee hint. Taste is very balanced with chocolate tones added to the faint coffee. Not really much bitter going on here. Smooth, creamy feel is impressive from this cask pour.

 

 

 

Served on-tap in Civil Life pint glass at Global Brew in O'Fallon, IL. Nice dark body, nearly black, with a small tan head that left just a bit of lacing.

Light aroma of roasted malt and a bit of coffee.

The flavor seems spot on for a porter. Nice roasted malt flavor that is not too bitter. Light chocolate and coffee notes that blend in nicely. Touch of maple syrup.

Excellent mouthfeel. Very smooth and silky. Overall, I thought this was a solid representation of the style. Will definitely have to see if this is bottled and it might find a spot next to Founders Porter in my beer fridge.

 

 

Dark body, creamy bronze head. Roasted nutty smell. Delicious for a porter. Porters are very hit or miss with me. But this porter I found to be deceptively light and easy drinking. Very dark almost chocolate taste on the back end. Really great porter especially with the great appirizers they have at civil life (where I had this beer)