Coast Range Farmhouse Stone Fence Robust Porter

Formerly brewed at Coast Range Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
Gilroy, California USA

the very first impression after the absolute opacity and well balanced nose is the smokey flavor... that smokiness continues throughout and does not give way to much else, but it is smooth on the palate with a slight hop bite

The first sip surprises with a big roasty tobacco kick, quickly fading to chocolate and roasted barley. The texture was creamy smooth and satisfying. There was an interesting burnt component in the finish that I really enjoyed somehow...pretty good brew.

I was drinking this outside during a thunderstorm, so all I can say is that it looked like a Porter. Interesting aroma of roasted malt, tobacco/cigars, and chocolate. Nice and smooth to drink, it carried nicely blended flavors of sweet roasted malts, chocolate, and tobacco, some of it smoking. Pretty decent brew.

<font size=-4>From <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=1 cellar.<font size=-1>

(Bottle) Pours a black body with a small tan head. Aroma of roasted malt and chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt, mild hops, coffee, and chocolate.

Dark blackish-brown color with a fair amount of off-white head. Great dark roasted grain aroma with a huge presence of coffee, cocoa, dark brown sugar, and a hint of burnt toast. Flavors were similar: roasted grains, coffee, cocoa, a slightly fruity acidity...not as powerful as I would have thought based on the aroma. Medium to light body, not too bad.

In the bomber bottle. Thanks to Bill B. for the beer. Pours black with a thick rich creamy beige head. This beer has a huge roasted coffee aroma. The medium body could sustain some more thickness to balance the roastedness. Good roasted flavor, though.

Shared a 22 oz bomber with others. Pour is dark and nearly black but not opague. Has a roasty porter or stoutish aroma; sweet, annisette, licorice and dark. Pretty bitter initially for something that is not Baltic. But that bitterness fades after you have it in your mouth for a few moments. Taste after taste the bitterness re-appears and builds. Very low carbonation. Not as well behaved as yuenglings porter or other more refined examples. Roasty burnt back of throat palate like you ate some meat that was charred on the grill. Did you ever taste beer that was filtered thru the coals of an old wet campfire?

As I pour this beer, the stream shows a clear, deep, reddish, dark chocolate brown color, but it sits in the glass an almost black color. The head is a light brown to dark brown colored head that starts out at about two-fingers in height. The aroma smells of a lightly chocolate accented mocha, a dry toasted biscuit or cracker like malt aroma. This has a typical dark malt driven, Porter nose to it that captures the essence of a Porter well.

Almost creamy-like, with a medium heft to it that coats the mouth with a lightly sticky malt character. Dark, burnt fruit notes of figs, prunes and perhaps some raisin notes add some complexity and are accentuated by the malt derived sweetness. Reminiscent of something like a chocolated coated malt-ball that has a powdered espresso shell. The burnt malts contribute a sharp, yet light bitterness as well as a touch of tannic astringency and even a hint of acidity to the finish. At times the sweetness makes me think of caramel coated cherries, though the cherry notes are definitely quite muted. Perhaps it gets a bit too astringent from some roughly roasted American malts, but this is fairly minor.

This is a nice Porter, there is nothing that sets off as being particularly unique, but it is tasty and quite enjoyable. I would certainly be happy to have another.