Atwater Vanilla Java Porter

Brewed by Atwater Block Brewery
Style: Porter
Detroit, Michigan USA

12oz btl. Pours a good dark black. Not a strong aroma but has a sweet sugar and a definate roastiness with a slight vanilla. Flavor is the same kinda coffe roasty taste with some chicory as well. Didn’t get much vanilla out of it, but its slightly sweet. Real light mouthfeel and not as heavy as it looks. Not as good as i hoped.

12 oz., cola in appearance, minimal head and lacing. Aroma of A1 steak sauce, old leather, something sour, and metal. Flavors... salt, soy sauce, fruit that’s past its prime. A little bit of coffee, but sort of stale, as though drinking stuff Monday that was left in the pot from Friday. Watery. Coffee and vanilla flavors kind of lost in translation somewhere. Here’s what the lady said: With this beer, I thought of my dad barbecuing shish-kabobs on the deck in the backyard. And then I got a flashback of two weeks ago... fiance and I were hiking on the Appalachian Trail and upon coming into a town and, happening upon a Kroger, I had the most satisfying bag of vinegar and salt chips.

It pours black. It’s a rather flat beer. No head, no lacing and the carbonation was very minimal. Light coffee flavor, but not much of anything else. Name sounded great but ended up being a real disappointment.

Bottle. Clear dark brown with a quickly dissipating tan head and no lacing. Very weak aroma of bittersweet chocolate and roasted malt. Flavor takes a back seat to the watery texture but there is some smoke and roasted malt in there. Still looking for the vanilla and coffee only appears in the form of chocolate covered coffee beans as the beer warms. Smooth but unremarkable finish.

I’ve had a few of these odd porters which claim "they are supposed to taste like that" (Think kuhnen creme brulee). Nose of sour milk and sour cherries. Coca-Cola pour with a short lived tan head. Beer was quite spritzy with a very light body. No more coffee flavour than I would have expected in a regular old porter. Quite a bit of apple and some tangy tropical fruit which is odd. The Vanilla never really showed up for me in any pronounced fashion. Somewhat short mineral thin finish. Not quite living up to expectations. I was looking forward to this. It’s too bad.

Pours dark with a MASSIVE head. Nose isn’t too bad - mostly coffee. Flavor is disgusting - way too sour and bitter for "vanilla java". Down the drain!

Bottle. Pours deep brown with a tan head. The aroma is all coffee beans, maybe a hint of vanilla. The body is much thinner than I expected. The flavor is again, all coffee beans, very artificial tasting. Not bad, it’s at least drinkable.

I had this in the bottle at Ashley’s in Westland, MI. I was unimpressed with this brew. It was watery, and the flavor wasn’t even close to the description. I’ve ranked it low, just because I expected a lot from this beer, and I was disappointed. Oh well, you win some, and lose some. Cheers!