Sap Sucker Maple Porter
The Vineyard and Brewery at Hershey

Poured from a bomber into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Dark, dark brown pour.. nearly black with thick fluffy head.

S: Light maple syrup... something off and funky.

T/F: Tart... probably infected. Muted maple... not much in the way of roast. Fizzy carbonation.

O: This must be infected... entirely off flavor, and nowhere near the sweet porter bomb others have described. Otherwise it's one of the worst porters I've ever tried.

 

this beer tastes somewhat amateurish to me, like its not all that well made, but because of the strong maple aroma and flavor, even if its not as authentic as it could be, i kind of like it. super sugary and syrupy nose, maple sure, but almost too concentrated, not pure maple syrup, maybe something else with it, maybe an extract or something to get it this potent. the base is too light for all the flavors, not enough dark malt bitterness to balance this out, and not really enough other flavors happening, its super one dimensional on the whole. it could use more carbonation too, gets a bit heavy with all the sugars, but still, i sort of dig all the maple in it. my first beer from these guys is nothing too impressive, and if you strip the maple out of here, this might not even be passable as a decent craft porter, but its hard to tell and a lot of its flaws are covered up by a flavor that i really like. ill have to wait until next time i am in the area to try more of their stuff, but after this one, i am not too confident in these guys...

 

 

Poured into a custom shaped glass: color is brown, amber edges; head is light tan with fine bubbles and 1/4 inch top; head dissipates to a top.

Smell is odd, a bit muddled with some maple, some roast, and some lactose(?).

Taste is similar to the aroma - odd - maple, cocoa, and heavy lactose like flavors.

Mouthfeel is crisp, well carbonated and lingering sweetness.

Overall - there is just something odd with this brew - the flavor has some maple but there is another heavy dose of some adjunct sugar - maybe it is the maple but it reminds me of some milk stout flavors. Porter like flavors are lacking with just a touch of chocolate and roast.