Innovation 3: Chocolate Sea Salt Porter
Vermont Beer Makers

 

This one intrigues me. You don't usually see salt in a beer style that isn't Gose, and yet here it is in a Porter. Maybe a salted caramel would be expected, but nope, salted chocolate. This is bound to be a weird on, so let's just dive right in

Pours pitch black with 2 fingers of rocky tan head that quickly fades to a thin ring and leaves no lacing

The nose on this beer is pretty basic, but it's serviceable. I'm picking up on aromas of roasted barley, milk chocolate, old coffee beans, caramel, light earthy hops, and a touch of salt

It really leans into the roast more than I expected for what is ostensibly a Pastry Porter, but it's not super well executed regardless of what it's going for. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting acidic coffee, roasty malt, toffee, and cocoa powder. The swallow brings notes of sea salt, roasted barley, acidic coffee, cocoa powder, and light caramel

A light body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a thin and watery beer. Finishes mostly dry but the roast and salt over take most of it

I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but it's not like it's awful. Just an oddity really. Not something I would reach for again but it was fun to try

The beer is inky black and you would think full bodied just from the pour. Full bodied it is not. There's no lacing and no head since it disappears almost right from the start. The smell is just a touch dark malts but mostly coffee that has been sitting around for awhile. The beer is pretty thin tasting, not a ton of body to the beer. There is definitely a briny taste to this, with some chocolates but not enough to make this interesting. There's a bit of sweetness to the beer, it is not a dry porter by any means. The taste is off a bit, and I think it's the briny flavors that are covering up some of the chocolate. Not an overly complex beer. After letting it settle and warm I wanted to see if things change ... Not much change, maybe a little bit more caramel hints come through. Kind of bummed I bought the 4 pack of this beer. I'll be swapping this beer with friends because I don't want to go back. One and done for me.

16 ounce can with no date, but we just rec'd this beer last week,

Moderate pour yields a fast disappearing, one inch tan head with no lacing.

Nose of dark malt and chocolate.

Taste mirrors nose with a bit of salt from middle to end.
Finish is bitter chocolate with a very slight saltiness.

With no head at all the mouthfeel is a little disappointing.

Overall, this is tasty, but appearance and feel bring score down.
Cheers!!