Atwater Vanilla Java Porter

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

Pours a deep black with a tan head. A definite expresso taste with a hint of vanilla. Normally I would love this combination, but something about this beer did not work. The taste were a little harse and did not blend together. I was really disappointed in this beer.

Dark brown pour with a voluminous tan head and average lacing. The aroma was roasted malts, chocolate and artificial vanilla. The flavor had some sour notes as well as chocolate and artificial vanilla. Thin body. Disappointing.

Pours almost black. Two fingers of loose coffee colored foam form and then dissipate very quickly. Lacing is minimal. Definite coffee notes are present. Sadly, it smells like a cup of Folgers, not a big dark roasted coffee shop cup. The vanilla is also present, although less so. It smells artificial. Slight hints of roasted malts. The whole thing has a sort of ’metallic’ smell too it. No, sir. I don’t like it. Burnt coffee beans dominate the taste. There is also a ’fake’ sweetness to it, that destroys whatever chance this beer may have had. The vanilla is nowhere to be found. There seems to be a bit of hops sourness here, also. This brew is way out of balance. Very light, waterey body. Not at all what I want from a stout, of any kind. Way too thin. As this is now a drainpour, I’m going to say that the drinkability is non-existent. Unless they change the recipe, I hope to never have this beer again.

From bottle. Aroma is bitter chocolate and oatmeal (?). Appearance is dark brown and light tan head. Coffee is apparent, with some smokey undertones that linger around. Don’t know where they got vanilla from but i didn’t notice any. Overall reaction: Ehh...

Espresso, roasted malt, cherries, chocolate nose. Poured extremely foamy, had to put a bowl around it to catch it, lost some, dang! Brown with red highlights and tan head. Some body to this, cherries, roasted notes, a bit of hops. I liked it.

12oz. bottle. Pours an opaque muddy dark brown with a huge khaki head. Nice lacing with some dark sediment chunks. Aroma is full of raspberries, very lightly roasted malts, nailpolish? Flavor is also raspberries, practically NO coffee or chocolate flavors. Medium bodied/med. carbonation. Definately the weirdest porter I think I’ve tried. Certainly not a drain pour but I believe it does deserve this rating.

Overall fairly average. There was an astringency to the beer that took away from its drinkability.

Why do I like funky, sour, infected porters so much? There is clearly something wrong with this beer. Pours dark brown with a pretty massive light tan head. Nose is kind of fucked up... bitter coffee grounds, some trash, some cocoa, burnt vanilla. Aromas of waxy chocolate Easter bunnies. Also, big hit of what marshmallows smell/taste like after putting them in the microwave until the sugar burns. Scary but sort of alluring. Like sometimes your fingers smell like shit but you can’t stop smelling them... wait, is that just me? Tastes similarly weird and slightly offensive, but I keep wanting more. I feel dirty for liking this beer.