Ritual Coffee Payback Porter
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

Reviewed from notes taken at an unlisted event.

 

I had a twelve ounce draft of this at Rattle and Hum in New York City. I am a big fan of coffee porters and stouts when I'm in the right mood for them and lately that right mood has been more often for me. This had a great balance of the alcohol, malt, hops and, of course, coffee.

Color was a dark brown with a reddish hue. Carbonation was a little bit low but also very dark.

Aroma is very intense in coffee but also balanced with the malt and very present hops.

Flavor as well featured a very well balanced mix of the three and very easy to drink, which might be a problem at 7.5 percent.

Overall a great beer from a great brewery. I'm glad to see so many of their offerings on the east coast lately.

Had this on tap during SF Beer Week's opening gala. Took a while to dig up the notes.

Pours a luscious dark brown/black with ample medium tan head forming above. Excellent retention and nice lace work as the beer slowly depletes. Aromas remind me of freshly brewed coffee and dark roasted grains. Some chocolate present. Flavors carry forward the strong coffee with chocolate playing background fiddle, certainly well within earshot. Bitterness seems appropriate and creating balance with the sweeter chocolate. Medium-full bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. As a fan of robust porters and an even bigger fan of coffee, this was certainly one to enjoy. My only complaint is that Speakeasy isn't currently bottling such an amazing brew.

Growler filled up at DeCicco's, Ardsley, NY

Pours black, under a well developed (one inch) darker tan head, that stays and stays, slowly going to a thicker film and leaving behind decent bands of thick sheeting and then nice scattered lace.

Nose is freshly of dark coffee and milk chocolate.

Flavorful porter, densly infused with perhaps too much coffee for some. Chocolate also appears and stakes out its territory. Bitterness in the finish, chocolate sweetness balances out the coffee bite. Nicely done, thoroughly enjoying this one on a cold, stormy and wet winter's nite.

Super smooth in the mouth, rich and moderatly heavy in its approach.

Good stuff, glad to get to try this brewery/coffee roaster collaboration.

Sampled a pint of this at the Speakeasy Brewery last night. Hold up a sec - this batch was not actually brewed with coffee from Ritual Roasters, but instead with coffee from another local roaster. According to the bartender, that was the only difference between this beer and the one brewed with Ritual coffee. Following review written from notes.

Served in a clear, plastic pint.

Appearance: Dark brown-black body with faint shades of orange at the outer edges (damn close to opaque). A creamy, tan crown sat on top and retained well; left a fair amount of lacing in its wake. Looked robust.

Smell: Chocolate malt and leafy hops were all I could get at first, and both aromas were faint. I later detected mild cocoa and nuts, and caramel picked up strength as the beer warmed. Very mild overall though.

Taste: Medium-roast coffee, caramel, piney hops, and char. Pretty bitter-roasty all the way through. That was cool with me! Not very complex, but I dug the overall flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and a little creamy. Lightly carbonated but prickly. Alcohol peeked through in the finish, which was dry, bitter, and lingering.

Drinkability: A pretty simple coffee porter with a touch of west coast flare. I could easily imagine this being a go-to for me. Now I've got to try the regular Payback Porter to see how it compares.

Tap, City Beer Store. Lots of coffee. Probably a bit too much, really. Much of the nice chocolate flavor in Payback is lost. The coffee flavor is good, but these sorts of beers should be happy marriages between the dark malt and coffee, and, in my opinion, they didn't quite pull that off here. I'm a big fan of Ritual coffee, and this beer certainly does have a nice iced coffee feel. However, the coffee is a bit bland and simple in this beer. As for appearance, it's quite similar to the base beer - very dark brown/red, verging on black liquid, dark beige head. Mouthfeel is good, though I would prefer it even thicker. All in all, it's a good beer, particularly for fans of coffee stouts/porters.