Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter
Second Chance Beer Company

16oz can, painted label. Bottom stamp is 'BEST BY '08/12/28'.
Black colored body, with a dark brown back lit edge. Three fingers of dense, brown colored head, and this slowly retreats to a full cap. Leaves behind scattered lacing webs.
Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate.
Taste is sweet and metallic. Flavors of sweet toasted malts, dark chocolate, with bits of coffee and a hint of dark fruit. Aftertaste brings together all of the flavors.
More than medium mouthfeel. Foamy smooth and then gets dry and a little chalky. Bitterness comes from the dark roast coffee. Very good carbonation.
Rich flavors are remindful of chocolate brownies with coffee.

I SO wanted this to be the replacement for the Baltika #6 that’s been unavailable since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While not tasting burnt like so many porters, the toasted flavor was overpowering. I liked that it didn’t have any adjunct added flavors, BUT left me disappointed, it is currently third behind Karbach’s limited-run Baltic Porter and Blue Owl Brewery’s B.O.B’s Great Porter. Good try.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours black. 1/2 finger tan head. some lacing. Roasted malt on the nose, although fairly subtle. Same roasted malts on the taste, but more pronounced. Perhaps the slightest bit of bittersweet chocolate. Barely there carbonation. The smell and taste improve as it warms. Overall, not a bad porter, but not outstanding.

Packaged January 29, 2024 - enjoyed on February 17, 2024 - poured from a pint can into my Samuel Smith nonic.

Impenetrable Van Dyke brown body with a low tan cap. Fine sandy lacing; very good retention.

Malty/fruity aromatics with hints of toasted brown bread, coffee, milk chocolate, and cherry.

Fairly sweet palate entry suggesting root beer and malt balls, offset by a low earthy bitterness and a growing toasted malt complexity leading into a dry complex finish with hints of french roast, tea, and tobacco. Vague/fleeting metallic element at times. Yeast seems neutral (though any fruit/floral esters are subsumed by the low roast flavors).

Medium-light bodied, with a slightly "fizzy" quality and mild but lasting astringency.

Better than the sum of its parts, refreshing yet robust, a good showcase of specialty malts. Well crafted; good value.

Poured into a pint glass: color is very dark brown/black, head is tan and presents 1 finger thick, this pour presented quickly and dissipated to thin ring and whispy top, good lacing and remnants on previous pours.

Smell is dark chocolate, toasted malt, roast, light burned coffee, really a bigger aromatic note than most robust porters that leads right into the larger but balanced porter flavor.

Taste is more roast and chocolate blend, coffee, more noticeable earthy malt and hop flavor than in the aroma, light grass, dried espresso beans.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness but mostly from the cocoa/coffee/roast, ibus are on the elevated side but an earthy full bitterness.

Overall notes: a second lucky find on my AZ spring trip - 4x GABF porter gold medal and lives up to the billing. Big robust porter styling and is big on the cocoa/espresso side of this style.

 

 

Black coffee dark roast look with head that largely dissipates.
Some scents of roasted malts with this.
Nice gritty roast flavor I love in porters, some Carmel aspect too. Some licorice notes.
Nice medium feel, chewy carbonated
I could drink more of these this fall here and winter.

 

 

 

 

The beer is 6 months old. The can artwork is kind of bland hopefully the taste is not the same. The pour is a timber brown sort of color. The nose is roasted malts mixed with a dash of baker's chocolate & the taste follows suit with the nose. All I can say is that for 6 months old this porter is still holding up strong I mean the notes are still there & roasted barley is still kicking. The beer leaves an alluring lacing on the stout glass. Cheers! B