Portal to Transgression
Burial Beer Co.

Portal to TransgressionPortal to Transgression
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From:
Burial Beer Co.
 
North Carolina, United States
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
7%
Score:
89
Avg:
4.01 | pDev: 3.99%
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
25
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 11, 2019
Added:
Jul 28, 2018
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Collaboration with J. Wakefield Brewing

Amidst the interwoven visuals that make up our dreams, we create realities unto themselves. For we are the makers of our subjective truths. Made with a copious blend of dank hops, and aged upon heaps of Dutch cocoa powder, vanilla, and lactose. Parsed together with the J. Wakefield Brewing crew.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

4.06/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Sampling a cellar temp can poured into my trusty snifter. Canning date is July 2018.
The beer pours a dark chocolate brown color but definitely allows light to pass through my glass. A fluffy khaki colored head of 3 cm foams up and almost tops my glass. The foam slowly fades leaving some large craters on its surface and some tight lattice on my glass.
The aroma is roasted malt and some dark chocolate and a bit of light vanilla note. I also get some fruit, maybe plum or raisin, but the roast is dominant and the nose is actually a little mild overall.
First sip reveals an average body with very fine and tingly carbonation. Texture is smooth and the beer is easy to drink.
Flavor is what I would expect from the nose and style. I get roasted malt and dark chocolate with just a little bit of vanilla on the finish, but a roasted malt and dark cacao note lingers after each swallow.
I dont get any of the hops in the nose or the flavor and the ABV is well hidden too. This is a pretty nice albeit straightforward porter, nothing too complex or overpowering but certainly nothing flawed either. glad to have tried it.
Mar 11, 2019
Photo of unlikelyspiderperson
Reviewed by unlikelyspiderperson from California

3.91/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a coffee brown with very thin tan head that dissipates quickly
Smell is very fruity, like sherry or port, some raisin and fig and some light roastiness. Not what I would expect from a porter, also an almost cigarette like note on the tail end
Taste is much more solidly in the porter spectrum, nice dark brown malty notes with the cocoa and vanilla giving it a nice rounded sweetness. There is also that tobacco flavor but it is more like the smell of good pipe tobacco as opposed to the burnt ciggy I got on the nose, as well as an interesting complexity that reminds me a bit of oak wood. Nice complex flavors going on but still very clean, coherent and unmuddled.
Mouthfeel is great, crisp and clean with a nice soft body. Really one of the more perfect examples of the style as far as that goes, firmly on the porter side of the porter/stout line.
Overall this is a nice beer, the smell and parts of the flavor don't really hit on all the porter tabs for me. It's got things that remind me of a barleywine or an old ale, but it's a very nice dark beer, it plays its flavorings reservedly which gives it a complexity that doesn't overwhelm.
Jan 26, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by Gkruszewski from New York

Nov 01, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by jschott75 from Illinois

Oct 27, 2018
Photo of ThickNStout
Reviewed by ThickNStout from Georgia

3.76/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
16oz can from Sprayberry Bottle Shop (Marietta, GA). 5.49. Canned 7/18/18. Served in a Burial snifter. Enjoyed 9/20/18.

Pours brown like cola and rests in the glass chocolate with three rocky fingers of dirty parchment hued head. The bubbles fade, leaving a fine surface layer, full belt and some decent streaks of lacing.

Smells sweet and roasty. Faint vanilla, chocolate milk, slightly burnt toast and some cooked caramel.

Tastes of weak coffee, bittersweet dark chocolate, milk sugar, caramel, roasted malt and toast.

Smooth medium body with moderate carbonation. Notes of chocolate milk and caramel coffee provide a sweet, lingering finish.

Burial and J Wakefield have teamed up for another dark brew. This time around they went a bit less robust. Portal to Transgression is a solid porter that has at least some modest evidence of the advertsed adjuncts. I’m glad I tried it but also satisfied with my decision to stick to a single tallboy.
Sep 22, 2018
 
Rated: 4.07 by Jsalz21 from New Jersey

Sep 21, 2018
 
Rated: 4.13 by Rammed96 from Maryland

Sep 13, 2018
 
Rated: 4.05 by Run4theRoses from South Carolina

Sep 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.81 by Benish from Utah

Sep 07, 2018
Photo of strohme2
Reviewed by strohme2 from Michigan

3.97/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
16 ounce can, dated 18JUL18. Poured into Burial tulip.
Poured a flat cola brown , some red highlights. As it sits in the glass it’s very dark brown. Half a finger of tan head before it disappears.
Cocoa powder, vanilla, smoke nose. Much the same taste. Cocoa, smoke, ash, bit of dark cherry, almond, vanilla. Lighter body but smooth profile with drying finish. Alcohol is well hidden here. Tiny amount of carbonation leads to huge drinkability. I like my porters and stouts like this.
Sep 04, 2018
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

3.76/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
Canned on 7/18/18

Pours black with a soft finger of foamy, off-white head; decent retention and trickles of lacing, with an off-white ring persisting around the surface.

Aromas of smooth, lightly bitter milk chocolate, vanilla beans, and roasty malts; these are all balanced smoothly for a good medium between bitter and sweet.

Taste is baker’s chocolate balanced against bitter, roasty malts; again, great balance dominates here, as the flavors interact seamlessly and the profile remains balanced.

Mouthfeel is oily slick and suits that role impressively as a porter; soft, almost pillowy carbonation (although slightly thin) removes nearly all but the most stylistically essential bitterness from the palate and creates something unexpectedly smooth, light-feeling, and easy-drinking; virtually no alcohol present.

A solid porter with some good adjunct flavors; without hitting it out of the park, this one does everything well and really faults at nothing. For what it lacks in asserting a diverse flavor profile, it makes up for in near effortless drinkability. Well-done.
Aug 31, 2018
 
Rated: 4.13 by AngusOg from North Carolina

Aug 29, 2018
 
Rated: 4.28 by dlos from North Carolina

Aug 27, 2018
 
Rated: 3.91 by cnealc from North Carolina

Aug 26, 2018
 
Rated: 4.08 by warrendietrich2001 from Nevada

Aug 20, 2018
 
Rated: 3.98 by dandandan79 from New York

Aug 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3.76 by fehrminator from North Carolina

Aug 12, 2018
Photo of FriedSlug
Reviewed by FriedSlug from North Carolina

4.29/5  rDev +7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
When poured the stream is clear, dark and reddish brown. The pour produces about a finger of light tan, fluffy head that retreats to the edges and leaves significant lacing behind. The aroma is pure coffee with sweet cream, vanilla and cocoa. The combination seems to keep giving me thoughts of coconut. MEdium bodied, sweet beer with a ton of cocoa, vanilla and roasted malt. It is quite sweet but light and has a bitter char finish to even it out. Another really tasty dark beer from Burial.
Aug 12, 2018
 
Rated: 4.21 by mecmd from Tennessee

Aug 10, 2018
Photo of dbrauneis
Reviewed by dbrauneis from North Carolina

4.09/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
A: Pours an opaque yet still clear extremely dark brown approaching jet black in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation rising quickly along the edges of the glass and moderate chestnut brown + cola brown colored highlights. The beer has a three finger tall sudsy foamy tan head that slowly reduces to a couple of small patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of roasted malts and chocolate/cocoa with a light to moderate amount of lactose sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of vanilla and light aromas of dank resinous hops.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of roasted malts and chocolate/cocoa with a light to moderate amount of lactose sweetness. That is followed by light to moderate flavors of vanilla. Finally there are light flavors of earthy + dank resinous hops. Overall there is a light amount of roasty hoppy bitterness that fades away slowly.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Smooth.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and very enjoyable - though the mouthfeel is a touch thin. Nice balance between the lactose, cocoa, and vanilla with the roasted malts.
Aug 06, 2018
Portal to Transgression from Burial Beer Co.
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 25 ratings