Pullman Porter
Coeur d'Alene Brewing Co.

On tap at the brewpub in Coeur d'Alene in August 2009. Couldn't put this review in with the rest of my backlog earlier, as this place was listed as closed for a period of time.

Pours a moderate brown color with a half-finger tan head and not much lacing, just a few bubbles around the edges. The nose is a bit plain, but has some roasted malt and a bit of light chocolate. The taste is about the same. Nothing too offensive, just dull. The feel is moderate with a medium body and typical carbonation. Drinks well enough but isn't all that sound.

I had to try the Pullman Porter while visiting the brewpub. Served in a standard pint glass.
Pours a opaque black, with a beige head. Good retention, nice looking lace. Smell is of roasted malts, slightly smokey. Taste is a bit sweet, some coffee and cocoa, charred-smoke finish. Mouthfeel is quite smooth and medium towards full bodied. A very drinkable porter. Mild, but not thin, flavors. My favorite from this brewery.

The Pullman Porter arrived inconspicuous in a pint glass. Essentially black in color and not much head above it. Things picked up in the aroma with heavily roasted malt. More chocolate than coffee and a bit of fruit.

Light on the body, almost too light. Powdery cocoa up front, a touch of fruit through the center and finishes with a decent bitterness. All said, the flavors here are not that bad, but overall an average brew.

I had this on tap at the brewpub in CDA

I was not at all impressed with this brew. I have only had it once and I will relay my experience.

It was brought to me in a standard pint glass and it looked more like a flat cocacola than anything else. There was absolutely ZERO head on the beer and until I took a drink I was convinced it was flat.

It might as well have been. Granted, porters shouldnt be super carbonated, but there should be more than this had simply to carry the beer's body a bit further.

It smelled decent, chocolate toasty notes.

The flavor was actually pretty good, it reminded me of a slightly sweeter Black Butte Porter.

Overall, if this had more carbonation it would be a great seassion beer. I may just be hyper critical of this beer because their "IPA" was dreadful (and that they brought me a Lakeside British Ale when I had ordered the IPA originally) and then this was brought to me like a glass of water.

Maybe I will have better luck next time

I was under the impression that a micro brewery took pride in their beer.

I wrote on my check "To the Brewmaster: More dextrins in the Pullman Porter"

Appearance- It is dark just like a porter should it could almost be considered a stout. It is a super deep dark brown.

Smell- A roasted malt aroma with a little bit of a burnt grain smell.

Taste- It has burnt sugary toffee taste to it followed by a smoky aftertaste.

Mouthfeel- A thin porter but not bad. There is a s little bit of film to it.

Drinkability- Nice sipping beer.

I had a couple of pints of Pullman Porter at the Steam Plant Grill. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a nearly opaque black brew. Creamy beige head. Very resilient.

Smell is a sweet roasty fragrance with a slightly smoky aroma.

Taste is a charcoal coffee flavor. Mild bitter-sweet finish.

Mouthfeel is smooth and reasonably full-bodied.

A very drinkable porter. A little short on flavor and character, but very easy drinking beer.

I was served a three ounce sample at the Alehouse in Moscow, ID.

A: It poured a very dark clack with tints of ruby and a nice richly tan head that generated abundant uniform lacing.

S: It had a distinct burnt malt aroma with hints of dark chocolate and dark fruits.

T: There was little complexity to this brew. It presented a toasted malt front and that was the extent of the flavor. There was no bitterness...just more and more thin toasted malt flavor.

M: Thin and watery body with a clean finish and aftertaste.

D: The flat flavor profile and thin body make this an enjoyable brew to drink. However, it is not distasteful and the low ABV and lack of bad characteristics make it a beer one could (but why do it) drink in multiples.

Comment: Like several of the other beers from this brewery, the Pullman Porter suffered from seeking to appeal to customers that like thin, one dimensional, and easy to swill beers.

Tried this on-tap (it isn't bottled) at CDA's brewpub in Spokane, located within the Steamplant Grill, for $3.23 (?!). Served too damn cold, so I had to let it sit.

This came colored dark brown, with a moderate tan head that hung around for a couple of minutes. Moderate amount of lace.

This smelled roasty and sweet. While not unpleasant, the sweetness needs to be taken down a peg.

The taste, while pleasantly roasty, suffers like the smell from a little too much dark chocolaty sweetness. If it were tweaked to be just a little less sweet, it'd be quite good. Instead, it's adequate. and Coeur D'Alene needs to serve there beers at a little bit higher temperature than ice cold.