Berkshire Coffeehouse Porter

Brewed by Berkshire Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
South Deerfield, Massachusetts USA

Bomber. Seriously. This is Drayman’s with coffee beans added. But that’s good. Funny thing about this one, it’s roastier when it’s fresh from the fridge. Aroma is a little thin, mostly coffee grounds, cream, and chocolate. Like a nice Starbucks coffee, it’s both creamy and roasty at the same time in the mouth. It’s a bit one sided with the coffee (read: no hops to be found), but at least it does that one side very well. Finishes like it starts ... roasty but creamy. Very tasty brew.

Thanks to oldgrowth for this one. Nice black colour, very thin head, nice smell of coffe.(what a surprise) Nice coffee taste that lingers in the aftertaste. Body seemed a tad thin. but overall really good

Pours a dark brown color with a brown highlights and a thin light brown head. Aroma of coffee and chocolate, decent. Flavor of coffee and chocolate with a bitter finish, again, decent. The body is light with a creamy texture and moderate carbonation. I’m not a big fan of Berkshire but this one is fairly decent.

22 oz bottle, via ClarkVV. Pours a clear dark brown with a finger sized light brown head that left nice lacing. Pleasing aroma of chocolate and roasted malts, cold day old coffee, and a light hoppiness. Flavor leaned toward the roasty side with an astringent black patant malt and coffee finish. Moderate bitterness balances out the sweeter chocolate flavors nicely. Body is fairly light and thinish with nice moderate carbonation that scrubs the palate clean for the next sip. A very enjoyable Porter, but then again, I’m a really big fan of coffee so maybe it’s not for everybody.

Bonne odeur de café. Belle couleur brun foncé. Mousse adhère bien aux parois du verre. Grosses bulles. Un peu mince en bouche. Le côté crémeux n’est pas assez présent.

Barrel Draught at the GBBF, Kensington Olympia 05/08/2004 Black slightly rich on the palate with a fruity aroma. Some bitterness in a dry coffee roast finish.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained 24-Feb-06 in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) Wow, no mistaking that this is a coffee porter. To me, the nose is roasted coffee and yeast and nothing else is allowed to break through. Lots of bitter roast and coffee in the flavor too, but again, very little of anything else, so this is too unbalanced for my tastes. It’s not the least bit sweet, not chocolaty, not toasty. Body is medium, but thins considerably in the finish. Very dark brown in color with ruddiness at the edges. I think the highlight of this beer is the tan head; it builds to a full inch in height on the pour, the bubbles are tightly knit, and it shows superb retention. Lacing is patchy. I like coffee-flavored beers, but I need them to have more than just the dark-roasted coffee. Unfortunately, this beer is lacking those other qualities, so it’s definitely not my thing. And after trying the Drayman’s Porter, the base for this coffee beer, it’s clear that the coffee is significantly overdone as it tramples what Drayman’s shows is there originally.

On tap at the Horseshoe Pub: All coffee aroma, like opening a bag of beans with a burnt expresso tinge. The flavor is the same all burnt dry expresso. Good strong and rich but all too one dimensional. I am a big fan of this brewery and this is a good medium bodied porter but it is too satisfied with the coffee flavor. I would have liked to taste more hop and more complication in the palate. Good but not great.