The Friendly Village Porter with Hazelnut & Vanilla
Sew Hop'd Brewery & Taproom

16oz undated can poured into a pint glass shows an opaque dark brown, black body and mostly supports a 1/8in head of tan foam. Sheets of lacing form with agitation and all but random islands return to the edge-hugging ring.

Nutty and chocolate aromas dominate and are joined by an herbal, almost licorice note. Roasted cocoa, and coffee, beans and hazelnut bitterness is tempered with the vanilla and chocolate. A quite complex combination of flavors.

Mouthfeel is full and slick with a sense of cocoa powder texture that dries out the palate.

Overall a trip to Huntley is in the works.

 

 

16oz tallboy can pour into HF wine stem.

Appearance: black bodied beer with fluffy light brown head.

Smell: Hazelnuts, vanilla, with a hint of caramel and coffee creamer. Underneath all those sweet aromas, there is just a slight wiff of roasted dark malts, but you really got put your nose in this to smell it. This smells quite authentic in regards to aroma of adjuncts. It smells like a well crafted dessert coffee that is heavy on the sweet and light on the coffee.

Taste: starts off sweet and finishes with a well balanced bitterness. The vanilla and hazelnut are the main focus of the sweet flavors in this porter. You also taste a little bit of coffee creamer and a light roasted dark malts. I can't quite tell if the bitterness in the finish is from the roasty malt or the bittering hops. Either way its a nice way to finish out a well balanced porter.

Mouthfeel: lighter end of a medium bodied beer. lower spectrum of the moderate carbonation levels. This is very drinkable...I am actually glad this did not taste as sweet as it smells because this makes it incredibly drinkable. A surprisingly creamy mouthfeel almost like nitro beer. Perhaps the brewer threw in some oats? No mention of such ingredients on the can. Not even a sensing of the abv. incredibley smooth.

Overall: This is a flavorful and session-able porter with a almost nitro like creaminess. In a craft beer world where adjuncted dark beers are so sweet and cloying and boozy this one is without a doubt counter culture. It is so well balanced its almost absurd. This is quite an exceptional offering from a small town local brewery less than 10 minutes away from me. If you enjoy a dark beer with hazelnuts you should really check this out! It costs $12 a 4 pack of 16oz cans. Great price point for a high quality brew.