Palo Santo Porter
Spellbound Brewing

Purchased at Bound Beverage, Warrington, PA. $13.50, 6pk/12oz cans

Pours a very dark color, nearly black. Totally opaque. A small skim of a head on the initial pour.

Aromas of smoky sweetness.

The initial sip greets you with a smoky, malty flavor with sweet chocolate and a tangy, mild bitterness. The palo santo adds a woodiness to the overall profile.

Thin to medium consistency with mild carbonation.

Overall, a good porter that is enhanced by the palo santo aging. Cheers!

 

A very unique and enjoyable Porter! Deep ruby red, almost ebony color. Chocolate aroma with dark roasted malt hints. Slight tannic taste followed by semisweet chocolate flavor with a hint of smoke. Mouthfeel is very pleasant. Palo Santo wood flavor and aroma pervades. A great porter!

Pop the top and I get an immediate cocoa aroma from the can, and there’s an earthy note as well. An aggressive pour reveals a black bodied beer with a 2-finger tan head, and it dissipates pretty quickly. Rating 4.0

The nose is indeed cocoa, and there’s bit of fruity hops as well. No sign of the earthy aroma. Rating 4.0

The taste takes a MAJOR detour - there’s cocoa and maybe a smidge of fruity hops, but there’s a substantial smoky flavor. Like HUGE smoky flavor that works well with the cocoa especially. Rating 4.25

The mouthfeel is medium and fits this 6.9% ABV beer, especially the creamy side to it. Rating 4.0

Overall, I’m guessing this is a Schwarzbier or something in that family, and I’d put this solidly at 4.0, with an effective rating of 4.10.

Just a little less dark than black coffee brown, this porter produced a hefty tan head that's in no hurry to ebb. It caused a pause in the emptying of two twelve ounce cans into a clear glass liter mug. The head eventually recedes in an unattractive and uneven way, leaving sparse glass lacing. The aroma is mostly of roasted malts, with a little woodiness. Overall, the roasted malt has a hint of chocolate to it. But, with the taste, it seems like there's some coconut in the mix. The roasted malt seems very roasted, but not quite as far as burnt. Sweetness is not an issue here, as this runs far less sweet than many porters. The burnt-like aspect likely contributes there. A little chocolate-like flavor is underlying the overall taste. The body is much like the glass lacing, it's on the thin side. Not a total washout, but this isn't a porter that's going to earn bonus points for its body. Overall, this drinks pleasantly enough. The wood aging adds a delightful complexity without the tannins making it taste like a boilermaker. A little more smoothness and body would improve it, but this isn't at all a bad porter.

 

 

 

Aggressive pour leads to dense lasting head. Dark brown in appearance. Smell is very roasty, sweet and somewhat smoky. Taste follows with sweet malts, silky mouthfeel, bitter finish. Subtle lingering sweetness, very pleasant. Excellent porter. Would recommend.

Nice easy drinking dark beer, as it warms chocolatey sweetness becomes more apparent. There’s a moderate amount of bitterness here too that brings things together and increases drinkability. Medium bodied, even a little thin. As with other Palo santo beers I get a distinctive cinnamon note.

Visual: Deep brown, slight tinge of ruby, tan head disappears quickly
Aroma: dark chocolate, sl nutty, sl caramel, vsl red fruits/dark cherries
Taste: bitter chocolate, rasperries, hazelnut, finishes with sl woody bitter chocolate
Mouthfeel: little thin and low carbonation, easy drinking, nice long finish
Overall: solid porter, uses the palo santo well, would drink again and recommend to try

 

 

This is only the second Palo Santo Porter I have ever tasted, and it is very good. There is a substantial chocolate undertone, which complements the wood quite nicely. I'm going to say it directly.. if you like dark, sweet beers, and are looking for something a bit different.. Spellbound Brewing Palo Santo Porter is for you!

Solid black with medium light carbonation. Body is fairly thick and heavy
Aroma is chocolate, roasted malt,espresso, some spice and earthiness
Taste is a strong blast of espresso,chocolate, black coffee, and roasted malt. Some vanilla ,wood earthiness show up as it warms
Overall a really nice beer that's full of Intense flavor

 

 

Welcome back to New Porters & Stouts Sunday (Week 729), A Divergence From Happy New Russian Stone Beer Sunday (Week 729)! This one was not from my local trader, but instead, a recent acquisition at The Beer & Beverage Shoppe on Roseville Road.

From the CAN: "2017 Gold Medal & 2015 Silver Medal Great American Beer Festival"; "35 IBU"; "40 SRM"; "We aged our signature Porter on Palo Santo wood, increasing the complexity of the beer. Senses are initially stimulated by the coconut and chocolate aromas from the wood. A touch of anise and roasty malts come through as it warms in the glass. This beer will age well."

I beCAN with a Crack! of the vent, followed by a C-Line Glug that enabled the formation of two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-brown head with excellent retention. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose was very roasty, slightly smoky with a chocolate undertone. Mmm. Mouthfeel was big, full & creamy, surprising for a Porter. The taste was very chocolaty with a definite coconut presence. It was like a liquefied Mounds bar! I'm nit sure that I agree with them on "vanilla" and "anise", but it definitely had a cool mintiness to it. I wonder what they CANticipate happening to it through age. It also inspired me to seek out the base Porter just to see what differences the wood aging had imparted. Finish was semi-dry, but only because the sweetness of the chocolatiness kept it from being dry. The wood had definitely dried this out. This was quite a pleasant interlude.

 

L - 3-finger billowing hazelnut head atop a deep dark brown body.

S - roast, chocolate, caramel, coconut.

T - tons of chocolate and coconut. Oak, spices, licorice, a hint of dark fruits. Low bitterness, low sweetness, low booziness.

F - medium body with above-average carb for the style.

O - the wood makes all the difference. Tons of flavor for a low-abv brew.