Porter Appreciation Thread (2024)

pFriem Family Brewers -- Rum Barrel Coconut Porter
Barrel aged porter
ABV: 9.5%; pouring temperature: 44 °F; bottling info: 07 07 23
Source: Tavour



4.43/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Dark mahogany pour, clear; thick, frothy, light khaki colored head. Outstanding smell; blend of cherry-like notes with roasted grain accents; dark brown sugar and toffee. The taste reinforces the smell characteristics; bitter chocolate and cocoa notes with nice esters, tasting more like raspberry, offsetting things; toasted coconut; subdued bitterness percolating underneath the sweetness. Heavy body; smooth and dense mouthfeel; creamy residual sugar feel; a touch of boozy warmth.

There is some neat interaction between the rum barrel aging and the coconut playing here. Both aspects add some intriguing and delightful elements to the flavor and smell. Personally, I get sweet cherry and raspberry notes, likely from the cognac barrel interplay, while the coconut adds some nice toasted notes to the malt sugars. Balanced, immensely complex, and just plain wonderful - a nicely executed barrel-aged porter.

 

This is Black Stripe Coconut Porter from Metier Brewing in Woodinville, Washington. the beer is a 5.5% brew that I received as part of a trade. Glad to share with the porter thread, I forgot about this one last night @Blogjackets SO making up for it with a post tonight! Gonna cross post with What Pacific NorthWest Beer are you drinking thread.

onto my review:

Sampling a cellar temp 16 oz can poured into my snifter. the beer has a date stamp of canned on 09/05/2023.
Beer pours a rich cola color and no light passes through my glass. A soft fluffy khaki colored head of 3.5 cm foams up even with a gentle pour. This foam fades slowly and leaves some scattered lattice.
Aroma is some light bakers chocolate and a bit of a chalky scent and a little grassy hop note. Unfortunately I dont get any coconut here on the nose.
First sip reveals a medium body with fine and gentle carbonation that rolls across my palate. Texture is very smooth and the beer drinks easy.
Flavor is some light roasted malt and a bit of bakers chocolate. Definitely a little bitterness , but dark chocolate bite, not hop centric. No booze hints and again no coconut. Bummer.
The beer is a decent porter, but I am not finding coconut here, which disappoints me. Id score it higher if it didnt say coconut on the can.
3.71 in the BA DB

 

Foxfire from Bunker Brewing. Compliments of @sulldaddy in the barleywine/stout BIF!

Poured at fridge temp. Pours black with almost no head. The nose is interesting. I get a lot of smoke, which was really unexpected. I was expecting rum and maple. Some coffee and roasted malts coming through as well.

The taste is nice. Comes across as a heavily smoked porter. Rum comes through here, but isn't super dominant. Super unique taste. I get some honey, light maple, and plum.

Mouthfeel is a bit light. Overall, a really nice smooth drinking porter.