Hot Chocolate Porter
Ravens Brewing Company

Poured from a 473ml can. 30 IBU's
A: Pours a very dark brown/black with a thin tan head that did not last.
S: Nice nose of chocolate and toffee.
T: Taste is chocolate but on the thin side.
F: Medium body nice and smooth.
O: An pretty good Chocolate porter.

 

650ml bottle - I do like the cut-out view of a snowy mountain cabin, in the shape of a raven, natch.

This beer pours a fairly solid black, with subtle amber basal edges, and three fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly brown head, which leaves a bit of streaky and spotty lace around the glass as it slowly sinks out of sight.

It smells of bitter cocoa powder, grainy and bready caramel malt, some earthy nuttiness, faint java notes, and very, very tame musty, floral, and grassy green hops. The taste is dime-store chocolate wafers, some free-range ashiness, gritty and grainy caramel malt, oily bar-top nuts, stale coffee, and more well-understated earthy, musty, and dead floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is average in its palate-satisfying frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and mostly smooth, with nothing really a cause for concern at this particular point in the game. It finishes trending dry, the roasty character amping up.

Overall - this is a pleasant enough version of the style, with the chocolate essence applied by a deft hand. Not too sweet, which makes for a genial drinkability, and a nice pairing with some of my kid's Christmas confection. Or maybe I should break out some of those marshmallows I never got to toast in the backyard firepit, since it snowed in early September.

Ravens Brewing 'Hot Chocolate Porter' @ 6.0% , served from a 650 ml bottle & a 473 ml can
A-pour is a dark cola brown from the bottle/can to almost black in the glass with a small tan head leaving a fine spotty lace along the pint
S-dark chocolate , roasted malts
T-roasted malts , more mocha than hot chocolate
MF-ok carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-dark chocolate & mocha more than expected
prost LampertLand

 

 

Pours a dark brown almost black with a two finger thick tan mousse like head with a strong retention. The nose screams chocolate along with roasted malts. The roasted malts come to the front of the taste but are quickly replaced by a semi-sweet dark chocolate flavour and hoppy bitterness. The mouthfeel is quite silky with a medium level of carbonation. My first beer from this company and looking forward to trying others.

Raven Hot Chocolate Porter from Raven brewing in Abbotsford BC.

From the tap poured into a pint class.

One finger head when poured, it dissipated rather quickly but left a small film over the beer. Very dark black no light seen through it at all.

First smell is hint of dark cocoa, then you have a nice sweet malt smell come in after. A very very mild better smell but not from hops but the cocoa in it.

First taste is a sweet but dark chocolate taste. As it washes over you start to get a somewhat bitter flavor. You also get a healthy amount of malt that comes through as well. The after taste is bittersweet and lasts on your tongue for a while.

A nice silky mouth feel. You would expect it to be a little more chewy but it is a smoother texture that is decently carbonated.

Overall a good beer. I would give it a 3/5 . I enjoyed that it wasn’t too thick and it had nice subtle flavors. I would like to to be a little higher alchohol maybe 7 or 8 and with a more aggressive cocoa taste. I think they should make an imperial version, I would be down! This brewery started in 2015 and it is doing great, if you are in Abbotsford come check it out!