East End Eye Opener Porter

Brewed by East End Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Sampled on draft at the Headkeeper in Greensburg PA this beer poured a black color with a medium sized khaki head that lingered. The aroma was dryish roasty coffee with notes of cocoa, licorice and fruity hops. The flavor was toasty and roasty with notes of coffee, cocoa, vanilla and light fruity hops. There was a long cocoa and coffee finish that turned a touch bitter. Full bodied and smooth. Excellent.

Sample at East End and then a pint from the growler at the hotel later on. Oops, does that give it away that I liked this one? Pours black with a medium tan head. Roasty and malty nose with not-so-subtle coffee notes. Huge coffee flavor up front with a bit of malt and a bitter finish. I agree that it could use a bit more finesse, but who the hell cares, this stuff tastes fantastic!

Growler. Tons of astringent coffee all over the place, in the aroma and flavor. Very little complexity. Quite dry, a touch chalky. Needs more body, less coffee. Not doing it for me.

From growler. Wonderful coffee aroma, smooth and subtle with a roasted grain underlayer. Sweet malt but no sour tang that you find in many coffee beers. Light hop bitterness. Dark brown-black clear, with foamy lacing light tan head. Medium chewy body with medium carbonation and light chalky finish. Starts with medium dryness, coffee flavors, chocolate malt, roasted barley. Light hop bitterness. Well balanced porter with the best of coffee taste without the harsh character that commonly comes when using coffee. Nice job.

Scent of extremely fresh coffee over a light chocolate background. Just great. For me, coffee beers seem to go all or none, you have your masterful coffee bender and speedway stout, then you have sour tasting and one dimensional crap that shall not be named. Appearance presents a bit of a problem, very thin head. Considering other reviews here and elsewhere, this may be user error, so I will update this area as I have more glasses. Taste: the good news is that this is neither sour or one dimensional. The bad news is that I haven’t heard Scott consider a barrel aged version of this because it would be great. If I had to nitpick, my only wish would be that this was thicker.

This poured a very dark brown color with a lighter tan head. Aroma was of fresh dark roasted coffee, very aromatic. Flavor was slightly chocolate sweetness, followed by the deep roasted coffee grinds. Not quite as overwhelming as the blackstrap, very easy drinking coffee porter.