Bayhawk Chocolate Porter

Brewed by Bayhawk Ales
Style: Porter
Irvine, California USA

Sample from bottle. Pours deep amber brown. Aroma is malty and chocolate bitter. Flavour is dark malt with a whiff of chocolate. Dry finish.

Bottle. Dark brown with a fair off-white ehad. Thin sweet chocolate and coffee aroma. Bit thin flavour of chocolate, coffee and some bitter hops. Bitter sweet chocolateish finish. Needs more chocolate.

Bottle. Small off-white creamy like head that mostly diminished. Spar lacing. Slightly clear mahogany colour. Light notes of chocolate, coffee, hops. Medium bodied with a flat carbonation. Sweet malty flavour with light burned bitter notes. Light dry and sweet finish.

Bottle. Red brown colour with a beige head. Light roasted, chocolate aroma and taste. Medium body with a dry finish.

Jet black color with a small head. Chocolate, coffee, and toffee aromas and flavors. A slight bitter finish

22 oz bottle, via Saarlander. Pours a clear dark cola brown colored body under a smallish fizzy brown head that faded to a thin film. Aroma is chocolaty and roasty with notes of cocoa powder, vanilla, and a light vegetal note. Very weak chocolate and roasted malt flavor up front that fades to a watery finish with a slight sour twang and an unacceptable amount of diacetyl. A little chalkiness mid-swallow. Mouthfeel is very slippery and oily with moderate fizzy carbonation. Very short finish thankfully. This brewery apparently has some problems. This is the second time I had this beer, previously on tap at the Yard House in San Diego, and the second major disappointment. I didn’t rate it the first time cause it was so laden with diacetyl that it was undrinkable. With the second chance given, this beer earned the terrible rating.

Sampled February 2007
Pours with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, light brown head. The beer itself sits a dark, approaching black, brown color in my glass. The aroma is quite interesting, I think there is a strong diacetyl component, but it mixes with the other porter notes to cause a bit of confusion. The diacetyl mixes with perhaps the chocolate to form a sort of faux fruity note and at times I get hints of chocolate and toasted malt aromatics.

The beer feels quite light in the mouth. Unfortunately the flavor almost immediately picks up a note of diacetyl that is the single biggest flavor contributor. The diacetyl mixes with the dark malt notes in the finish to form a sort of off-putting burnt butterscotch note. At times it has a cola like flavor to it, but the chocolate is just drowned out by the diacetyl. A touch of chalky roast malt character is noticeable at times. Diacetyl really does not work in a Porter, or at least this one. Something about the interaction of dark malt notes and the buttery diacetyl just forms something that is even worse than when it is in a paler beer (though it really sucks there for the most part as well). There might be a good beer under here but it is really hard to tell.

Purchased: Park Lane Liquors, Lancaster CA

22 oz bottle into an English Pint glass, thanks to T-Bot for bringing this home with him! Pours a relatively dark brown to black with a fair tanned head. The aroma has a bit of a funk to it, along with tiny hints of cocoa, and a bit of roasty malts. The flavor is fairly watery with hints of roasted grains and a bit of cocoa powder. Really plain and not very exciting. A bit of a burnt flavor comes through towards the finish. Not a horrible brew, but not very good.