Midnight Rider Colonial Porter
Battle Road Brewing Company

 

This seems to be a beer contract brewed in PA even though the brewery website shows Sudbury, MA. There is definitely quite a bit of coffee going on in this beer, maybe a little too much. The nose is boozy, even though the beer is not particularly high ABV. There is also a bit of molasses in the nose as well. The taste is okay to good but I wouldn't rank it beyond that. There is some cutting hop and unsweetened dark roasted malt and bittering coffee/chocolate notes. I don't like the boozy nose on this beer though and it is a bit off putting. Not bad, not worth seeking out.

 

L -- Pours a very dark filtered amber body with a three-finger off-white head produced with moderate pour. Great retention and lacing
S -- Toffee, caramel, roasty malts, molasses, herbaceous hops, and chocolate
T -- Dark chocolate, roasted barley malts, molasses, coffee, grassy hops, smoke, and a slight coppery aftetaste
F -- Medium mouthfeel, medium+ carb. A little more watery than expected, but at the same time the roastiness is more aggressive. Restrained, smoky finish
O -- Nice British-style porter

77/100

 

 

 

 

It has very strong coffee notes but very drinkable.

 

2/19/14, should have had this Fresh, so if it's not top notch I'll try it again.

Pours a decent fizzy darker colored 1 finger head that fades at a med pace, fair creamy too, just about pitch black.

Nose is decent, mild chocolate, some dark choc and creamy cocoa, lots of wafer cookie and biscuity cookie, raw malts like fresh mash aroma and mild cereal grain, a touch of a faint earthy hop.

Taste brings nice porter flavours, rich creamy dark malts, lactose I think even or just big creamy profile, with milk chocolate and little dark choc cocoa. Then note of the biscuit, cookie wafer flavor, little cereal doughy like, almost chewy. A faint smoke note, and it even brings a faint fruity almost cherry like smoke, interesting. Hops come through nicely, little spicy note, little grassy and earthy, fair bitterness that ramps nicely on the back end. A touch of roast combines with the smoke adds brings a touch of an acrid metallic note. Finish is a bit sweet and sticky, nice long lingering bitterness, and bit more chocolate and cookie wafer.

Mouth is med to fuller bod, light creaminess and chewy, decent carb.

Overall pretty nice actually, great malt profile with the chocolate and cookie wafer biscuit, nice hint of the cherry wood smoke, good hop profile that blend nicely, balanced and very enjoyable. Just a touch of that acrid metallic note and could have used a bit more attenuation to dry the finish a bit more, the only nitpicking issues a can see.

 

Solid porter!

 

 

 

Pours near black where no light shines through. Beige head that settles to a thin level of bubbles. Leaves some smudges of lace on the glass.

Strong aroma of powdered cocoa. Semi-sweet nose.

The predominant flavor is the aforementioned powdered cocoa, but there is some definitive black patent malt that brings a burnt toast aspect to the taste, particularly in the swallow and aftertaste. Very coffee like. Moderate body with an elevated carbonation.