Atlantic Coal Porter

Brewed by Atlantic Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

(12oz bottle) Sampled in Lebanon, NH. Medium, beige creamy head with a deep reddish-brown body. Nose of spoiled milk, burnt sugar and roasted malt. Flavour of non-sugar cocoa powder, lacticlasting chocolate finish.

Bottle (341ml). Via trade with Ruggedman. Poured deep almost opaque brown with an average creamy rocky diminishing tan head. Aroma of deep roast malt, quite dry, with dark chocolate, mild coffee, some tart fruit, a bit sweet at first, but hop bitterness and roast take control on warming. Taste is also quite roasty and bitter, again dark chocolate, hops, more tart fruit and a bit of cola - pretty long bitter finish. Decent porter body, pretty lively, a little acidic - very nice porter!

28-Mar-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 01-Dec-05 in trade with goldtwins, thanks Larry!) Most aspects of this beer are less impressive to me this time around, though my observations vary only minimally. Very roasty, moderately bitter, very light sweetness in the flavor. Dry, roasty aroma. Medium bodied, rather dry on the palate, average carbonation. Medium-dark brown in color, but somewhat transparent at the edges and even most of the way into the center of the beer. Smallish light-tan head settles to a ring surrounding a few wisps. A decent porter, but since I’m not all that into dry, roasty porters, this just isn’t doing much for me this time around.

21-Oct-04 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 11-Oct-04 in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) This is a pretty solid, if one-dimensional porter, with a strong, bitter chocolate roastiness leading the way. It has a mild sweetness, but this is still fairly dry. There’s little change in the flavor from start to finish, and so the dark roasted malts linger on, making for a long-lasting finish. The nose is moderately roasty. Medium to full bodied with a dry, clean palate. Very dark brown in color, but not quite black. Pours with a light tan head that’s creamy on top, exhibits decent retention, and leaves a fairly dense blanket of lacing behind. (7, 4, 7, 4, 14 = 3.6)

Nice chocolatey coffee aroma. Sweet and mildly smoky. Light bitter hops and carbonic tang. Lactic. Dark brown red clear with thin frothy light tan head. Medium watery body with medium-high carbonation and carbonic tang. Nice profile. Rich chocolate start, rich and bitter coffee notes and mild carbonic tanginess. Milky lactic sweetness at the start, but dry finish is predominant. Medium heavy bitter with smoky burnt coffee bitter after.

Dark beer with a big tan head that doesnt last. Sweet roasty flavour with a similar aroma (though I enjoyed the aroma a bit more-its stronger). Very enjoyable, smooth, thick.

Looks like a decent porter, dark black with a fairly dense but fleeting tan head. Nice aroma. There’s significant sweetness, like molasses/brown sugar, with vanilla over pleasant roasty smells. The mouthfeel is pretty darn good, but what makes this beer stand out is the flavor. It’s very sweet, but a subtle bittersweet. The roastiness is robust and intense, balancing the sweetness perfectly. there’s also a slight lingering hop-like bitterness, which is usually absent from porters, but feels entirely appropriate here. A really nice porter!

Pours black with a bit of ruby visible at the edges. Two-finger head with a layer of large bubbles on the top; it doesn’t stick around. Beautiful roasted aroma with nary a hint of hops. Light in flavor like a Porter should be and unlike most American interpretations. Mostly coffee, with light chocolate and a smoky aftertaste. The hops are a little bit more apparent in the flavor, but still almost not worth mentioning. Pretty good. I got a kick out of it.

Nice roasty malt flavors with a bit of coffee. Pours dark but a little thin for my taste. Same goes for the palate, as its a bit oily. There is a delicious coal flavor at the end that really holds this beer together, despite its lack of boldness.