Butte Creek Organic Porter

Brewed by Butte Creek Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Chico, California USA

NO DIFFERENT THAN WINTER ALE, except it looks worse. "(hee hee hee, you said Butt) Why do winter ales taste like camgrounds smell? Don’t we camp in the SUMMER? Too smokey, lacked lace--not wintery or seasonal at all, but very butt-like, cigarette butt like.well that is too harsh, but I could not help the play on words.."--added for effect and 75 character rule

bottle-pours 90% black with minimal white head. not the best looking porter by any means. dark chocolate yeast esters and earthy hop notes in the aroma. not very good. bland and boring. light carbonation. a fairly substantial finish for such a small beer.

Nice lighter styled porter. Not a great example of a true porter, but nice. Good color ruby-brown, tiny head did not lace, dark roasted barley taste, good flavors of toffee, could be more bitter. Only complaint was the thinness, not a great palate. Good beer, my girlfriend picked it out...nice job, and hey, its organic!

Clear reddish-brown, small light tan head that doesn’t last, no lacing, aroma of dark chocolate and coffee. Light body, thin and watery mouthfeel, not much carbonation. Smokey coffee and chocolate flavors, finishes a bit sweet, a pretty drinkable porter.

Not usually a big fan of porters, but the ORGANIC caught my eye. Lovely amber-ruby color, head lasts to the last sip. Clean, dark fruits in the nose, and equally clean and smooth in the mouth. Very true to style, medium body, very drinkable. Standard porter, but extra points for being organic. I’m a fan!

Pours a deep brown-amber color with ruby highlights when held up to the light. It is topped by a frothy tan head. The aroma is a mix of dark concentrated fruit (raisin, prune) and a husky roasted graininess. The taste is sweet up front but moves to a fruity middle that lingers through the finish that is tinged with a roasted coffee bitterness. This beer is light and tasty. The bitterness in the finish is also from the hops as well as the dark malt.

Bottle: Deep cola brown with a small fading head and little lace. The aroma has notes of mocha, caramalized malts, aromatic and floral hops, dusty yeast esters, smoke, and freeze dried coffee. The taste is sweet and chalky up front with a minor fruit inclusion. Gets close to papery and earthy in the middle and the finish is just a bland light bitterness and burnt espresso beans. The feel lacks depth and is also very bland. A less than stellar porter with some major flaws. Again, is it the organic thing? Almost all organic beers seem to have little or no depth of palate. Almost all the good ratings for this beer occured in 2001 and 2002, recipe change?

Brown. Dry as hell in the nose with notes of wet cardboard, coffee beans, dark fruits and bitter chocolate. Dryness continues with a lackluster malt accented flavor profile of caramel, bitter chocolate and coffee beans. Complete lack of body. Astringent and somewhat moldy.