Red Nose
Pike Brewing Company

Tried this a few weeks ago and had to go back for more. I'm a huge porter fan and anything new in porter form interests me.

A - dark, almost black with a thick creamy taupe head.

S - roasted barley, Christmas spices.

T - Amazing. Very much like Pike's normal porter with the addition of more malt, vanilla and cinnamon.

M - Not too thick. You knew it was a porter but it was definately not a meal.

D - I regretted that I had to drive home. I would have loved to throw back another but shouldn't have driven if I had.

My biggest regret...I talked with the bartender and was told the keg my pint on 12/28 was from the last keg they had.

It has long been a complaint of mine that the Pike has forced their brewers to remain static. Rarely do they step outside the standard lineup that they've created, except for setting out some rather boring one-offs like the Imperial Bootleg Brown. Apparently the brewers were able to talk the powers that be into allowing them to do something different this winter, as they had released their usual winter seasonal (Auld Acquaintance) in the summer, and didn't want to brew it again. The Red Nose is the result.

Appearance: Deep, dark black with a gorgeous latte colored head. Almost no hints of ruby whatsoever when held up to the light.

Smell: Much more roasted barley in this nose than you actually get out of the 5X (I always pick up the hops in that one), and very little in the way of hoppiness (I think Drew said it was only 25 IBUs, but I won't swear to it in court). And yes, there in the back row, it's the little kid with glasses who frantically waves his hand because he knows the answer to all the questions the teacher asks, that's the vanilla and cinmamon.

Taste: Cold, it's kind of off-kilter. The maltiness of the porter really masks the spices (which are very subtle to begin with). I actually got my pint not knowing a damn thing about it, but Miguel had my back and knew exactly what I'd want. I let it warm, and still, there was a taste in the finish that I didn't quite know what it was. Then, miraculously, Drew happened to be standing next to me at the bar (and the only reason I knew it was him was thanks to the kickass description by cschwaz), so I asked him about it. But the instant he told me about them, it was like sticking my nose deep into some cookie batter. Those flavors just reached up and Emeril'd me hard.

Mouthfeel: This beer could easily have been way to thick, and that would have rendered it completely undrinkable. It is not at all.

Drinkability: I'm going to have to give this a 3.5. The brewers used vanilla extract and cinnamon powder in the kettle, as opposed to vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks. You can really taste the extract once the beer warms up and the malts are allowed to mingle with them a little more. It becomes just a wee bit cloying, and really limited me to just a single pint. But I'll be damned if I wasn't wishing to the beer gods that I had a freakin' cookie to go with my beer.

All in all, this is a fine effort, and I'm quite happy to see the team at the Pike stepping outside their usual boundaries. I hope this is the beginning of a regular trend.