Buzzards Bay West Porter

Formerly brewed at Just Beer (fka Buzzards Bay Brewing)
Style: Porter
Westport, Massachusetts USA

Nice roasty aroma. The flavor shares the roastiness, but it still comes across as watery.

From notes taken back in December: Pours deep brown with a tan head. Smells of coffee, chocolate, truffles and pepper. Tastes chocolatey with a nice full finish. Not a bad take on the style.

Dark clear chestnut with a light tan head. Toasty, malty and light toffee aromas. Flavors dominated by darker malts with a definate balck malt acidic finish

12 oz bottle. Almost black, darkly translucent, medium lasting tan head. Light sweetish nose, bit of roastiness, also a bit of soap. Had that in another BB beer recently; coincidence? Alas, detergent qualities show up in the flavor, which is overall sweet, slight roasted graininess, some decent character towards the end, but quite mediocre on all counts. Overall, this beer, and brewery, have no reason to exist that I can discern.

2004 bottle. I knew my faith in this brewery was well-placed. Pours an ultra dark-brown, seemingly opaque though perhas just very dark, as I dont believe it is bottle conditioned/unfiltered. Anyways, dark as night with a solid, burnt tan head. Aroma gives away hints of rotten veggies at first, but as it warms and breathes, this turns in to a very deep underlying chocolate malt mixed with some smoked malt and salty roast. Flavor begins with a dose of salty, bacon like smoke, a big dose of rich dark coffee roast and moves in to a bit more of a sweet chocolate. Hops bitterness is not dominant, but is noticeable and provides good balance on the finish. Hints of licorice on the finish as well. Body begins with too much carbonation, my biggest complaint with this beer, but evens out as it sits. Because of the relatively high carbonation, the body comes across as medium to medium-full. The flavor, especially the roasty/smoky part is just divine though.

750 ml bottle poured by one of the brewers. Pours a nice depe dark brown with a foamy lasting lightish beige head. Aroma is nutty and chocolates with a higher amount of fruity esters than expected- dark candied fruits- prunes raisin and some apricot- ligth dusty earthy hops. Good dark chocolate malt flavor- nutty dry roastiness, more dry dusty earthy and spicy hops, and a bit on the sweet side though. Carbonation is a bit on the higher end. Pretty good porter, but probably not worth the $10+ price tag for a regular porter in a 750 ml bottle.

Roasted and slightly vinous aroma, bit of chocolate as well. Unexceptional appearance. Warmed up nicely, with some occasional bursts of flavor. Distinctly dry, mild bitter aftertaste. Slightly slippery, oily palate, but other times striking a watery tone. Decent porter (and thus well above average in the beer world) but didn’t thrill me. I liked the legal disclaimer on the back of the bottle--one that I hadn’t seen before: "Chart on front not meant for navigational purposes." Yeah, like some guys on a boat off of Massachusetts find themselves lost and one of them says, "hey, I know! We’ll use this Buzzard map on this bottle...."

Re-Rate 04/12/02, Another Missing Beer? Pours a nice deep brown, the head beige, the nose is malt, slight toastyness, and some caramel tones also noted. Front is sweet malt, the top medium, the finish is dry and acidic, hops present, drinkable, and worth a try.