Entire
Strange Land Brewery

 

 

Appearance: Enormous coarse tan head of several inches crowns a deep mahogany body. The head is remarkably persistent, scarcely fading at all after several minutes. Thee lacing rings the glass wall in a lace-like pattern.

Aroma: Bitter cocoa and coffee, and roasted malt dominate the aroma. There is also a mild herbal hop presence, not strong, but perhaps notable for the style.

Taste: Opens with roasted malt, cold coffee, and bitter cocoa. As the taste progresses, the roasted malt dominates, with the coffee and bitter cocoa in the backdrop. The herbal hops provide a mild counterpoint to the taste throughout. Finishes with a lingering note of roasted malt and bitter cocoa.

Mouth feel: Smooth,and full, very soft and quite pleasant.

Drinkability/notes: A very nice example, thoroughly enjoyable. It is well to see a brewer in Austin, Texas hit so close to the mark of a classic English Porter.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce aluminum can, served in a South American-style Pilsener glass.

 

$1.08 on-draught at Hat Creek Burger Company in Austin, TX.

Chocolate malt, dark malts, malted milk balls/Whoppers. Pretty classic porter flavour profile.

Somewhat creamy. Smooth and wet.

Drinkable albeit simple and slightly shallow. Average flavour duration and intensity of flavour. It's pretty middling fare in the style and I'd sooner reach for a Deschutes Black Butte or even a Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, but it's nice to see a brewery in Austin going for a classic porter instead of using additives as a crutch. In a market wherein coffee this, vanilla that, and bourbon aged this and that are the norm, it's nice to have something a bit truer to form.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

***
02/01/18 hit this again during $1 beer night at Hat Creek in Austin...

It's just so damn balanced. Chocolate, dark malt sweetness, a creamy soft mouthfeel...this is a nice albeit downplayed porter.

The 6.8% ABV is well buried. Pretty drinkable for a relatively strong beer. Smooth, wet, medium-bodied. Not oily, astringent, or otherwise faulty.

I imagine I'll be forced to return to it when it's on offer at $1.08 per cheater 12oz pour, but in any case it's better than many porters I've tried.

B- / WORTHY

 

 

 

Thin pour with almost no head. Rich smell of coffee but taste is tangy with grapefruit tones. Not the best porter.

 

 

Poured dark brown into a pint glass from a can. Nice beige head and good lacing. Initial smell of dark berries and coffee. The taste is coffee,chocolate and dark toast. Nice and malty, good feel. Nice beer.

 

 

 

 

Batch #1, can conditioned.

This batch is really (over) carbonated, but I've had later batches since then and they seem to have figured that out, so I won't fixate on that too much. Massive beige head with huge bubbles. A series of pours has led to a big fluffy pillow on top of a dark mahogany body.

Smells roasty and chocolate. Not overly complex but a nice aroma. Feel is dominated by the carbonation, but its really big and chewy - much more than most porters I've tried. Taste is similar, mostly malts with some toasty, chocolate flavors. Nice and creamy mouthfeel, finished with significant bitterness.

Overall a really good porter that should only continue to get better as Strange Land refines their can conditioning techniques.

got a 4-can deal at sunrise atx. wow what an insane amount of head on this beer, am i doing it wrong? oh can-conditioned, now i get it. beautiful brown and black with fun bubbling action. smell is dark stone fruit, yeasty bread, sweet hop and malt. taste is similar, smoky notes and a wonderful high carbonation oily mouthfeel. good stuff here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It could be a solid go to, but not much going on with this one.

 

 

Black pour with a tan one-finger head. Roasted malt with a strong coffee flavor upfront. Also has a big espresso bitterness. Finishes with a burnt aftertaste.

 

 

 

Growler from Premium Draught in Houston.

A: Pours dark brown, nearly black. Though some light gets through to show some ruby around the edges. A beautiful tan head rises over two fingers. Excellent retention and impressive rings of lace all the way down the glass.
S: Roasted malts, coffee, bakers chocolate. Green leafy hops linger, which is pretty strong for and English Porter. Still a really enjoyable nose.
T: Malts up front, and finishes with a big green tea leafy hop flavor. Roast, coffee, bitter chocolate up font. Green hops linger, and adds another layer of bitterness. Though not out of balance at all.
M/D: A medium body with crisp and effervescent carbonation. Though smooth at the same time. Really easy and enjoyable to drink. The growler will be gone in no time.

The hops need to be toned down just a bit in order for this to be a great English Porter. Though very nit picky. All around, really enjoyable.