Fort Road Porter
August Schell Brewing Company

Sweet aroma. Caramel and roasted malts. A bright element to the aroma as well.

Dark brown color, nearly opaque - you can see somewhat through it with a strong back-light, which reveals lighter brown outlines at the bottom of the glass. Massive tan head from an overly vigorous pour. The head is thick and creamy, with decent retention. It leaves rows of lacing behind.

The taste brings the expected English-style porter flavors. Roasted malts, some chocolate and caramel balanced with very mild bittering. The initial taste is mild and smooth, with the bittering beginning in the middle and continuing to the finish. Slight bittering remains in the aftertaste. The malts, chocolate, and caramel linger, fading slowly.

The body is porter-thin, but tending toward moderate even with the low ABV, with some carbonation.

Overall, a very good traditional take on an English-style porter. While the flavor is less complex than its in-state companion, the Summit Great Northern Porter, this beer is quite enjoyable.

 

12oz can. Looks like a stamped best by date on can bottom of '022521'.
Ruby brown colored body. Beige head that dwindles to a partial cap. Only leaves behind a few spots of lacing.
Aroma of roasted caramel malts, accented by chocolate malts.
Taste has a touch of fruity hops that mix well with the caramel and chocolate malts. The roasted note continues in the aftertaste.
Fuller mouth feel with bubbles. Good carbonation.
Would be a good session choice before the fire.

The thing I like most about this beer is the amount of flavor and body compared to the abv. It tastes almost like a bock with its malty sweetness, but has a good balance of roast and bitterness too. Perfect for a cold winter night.

I'll be honest, I wanted to love this beer but you can do much better for a porter. It's really thin and has a kind of vinegar type taste that cuts through everything. Looks great but the smell doesn't do anything for me and the taste is only okay. Not sure why this bitterness overpowers the chocolate but it does. Would go back to it.

Not overly sweet but very smooth. Low carb. Toasted malt over caramel and light chocolate coffee. Well done English porter.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of bubbly foam. It left sticky patches of lace on the glass. It smelled of roasted malt, nuttiness, chocolate and toffee. Very roasty tasting with chocolate, coffee and toffee.

Top notch example of the style. Mild roasted malt notes with caramel, and nuts blending in to the flavor and aroma. Touch of milk chocolate. Medium bodied. Creamy smooth. Soft. Excellent English Porter.

Pours dark brown with a one finger tan head, which has nice retention and lacing. Nice aroma with chocolate, caramel, and dark roasted malt. Tastes like it smells with the dark roasted malt stronger than the caramel and chocolate. Light to medium bodied with a dark roasted malt taste at the end. Nice amount of flavor for a 4.8 % abv beer.

S: Medium low nutty bread notes lead the aromas supported by biscuit and light toast with a hint of chocolate.
L: Pours brilliant brown with ruby highlights under a 2” medium rocky tan cap with good retention.
T: The flavors include chocolate, nuts, bread, bread crust, and light toast. Finishes with a moderate very pleasant woody bitter.
F: the beer is creamy with medium body and medium carbonation.
O: This delicious, flavorful, complex English porter has rich flavors that hang around.

Fort Porter pours a black color, with a small, but long lasting tan head. Nice roasted aroma, hints of hazelnut. Flavor has a slightly burnt flavor, nice hazelnut flavors, with some chocolate notes too. Good body and feel. Overall, a very solid porter, nice chocolate and hazelnut flavor.

Appearance: Pours a jet black color with a frothy, light tan head. SRM of 24. (3.75)

Aroma: Light and airy, but strong aromas of dark, sweet, molasses. Some permanent marker and syrup sweetness. Cream and vanilla linger on the end. (4.00)

Flavor: Flavor follows the nose with smooth, milky, sweet cream. Only hints of cocoa. No roastiness. Just creamy and milky. Not too sweet. Clean overall. (3.75)

Feel: Medium-bodied. Low carbonation. It does't feel watery though. Still maintains it's creaminess despite the low carbonation. Light and milky for sure. (4.00)

Compared to The Warden Milk Stout: Pours a similar color. Much more coffee, cocoa and roast. Less cream, molasses, milk, vanilla. Sightly more bitter, but similar in sweetness.

Overall: A pretty good, simple version of an English Porter. No roastiness as expected. A nice molasses aroma on the nose. The lack of roast allows the complex dark flavor of molasses to develop. Albeit a simple, and light version, it's pretty good and smooth. (Final Rating: 3.84)

 

 

People don't give Schells their due. This is flawless and perfectly brewed to style.

A nice lighter dark beer to drink during the cold months. English-style but is not sour like those old world porters. Slightly roasty but nice chocolate and caramel notes. Light bodied and appropriately carbonated. A nice alternative from big stouts and big IPAs we get in the winter.

 

From a 12oz can:

Appearance: Dark brown, good head.

Smell: Sweet, mild mocha.

Taste: Mild sweetness, roasted malt, moderate feel and body. Not too light, but easy drinking.

Overall: Nice little porter here, a little sweet and roasty with low bitterness. Nice change of pace beer and good for the fall weather.

It's a English Style Brown Porter.

Brewery Notes: Chocolate and caramel notes will shine through this brew, but leaving room for the roasted malts to make their appearance. With barley grown near the brewery on the historic Fort Road, this beer gets its name and runs during the colder months, opposite our Fort Road Helles.

My notes: tested from 6 pack 12oz cans.
look: looks good. very dark brown, hardly any light goes thru the glass, Nice tall fluffy tan head ,leaving some but not a lot of lacing.

Smells Good, chocolate, brown sugar, roasted malts

taste: chocolate, hint of caramel and brown sugar. then some roasted malt more towards the finish about 3/4 of the way thru. Smooth drinking, medium duty flavorwise. easy drinking. Has it's bitter and sweet elements alternating back in forth. Overall just slightly bitter. 4.10/5

feel: A good solid body considering it's 4.8 ABV, 3.8/5

I like it, I will be buying more of this in the future. overall: 4.09/5