Estes Park Porter

Brewed by Estes Park Brewery
Style: Porter
Estes Park, Colorado USA

Draught sampled at the brewery. beer was clear, very dark brown with a small, light brwn, frothy, mostly diminishing head. The aroma was moderately malty with a note of husky roasted grain; Yeasty with a trace of cheese. The flavor was moderately sweet, lightly bitter with a long, lightly acidic, moderately bittersweet finish. Cheesy/roasty retros. The body was medium, the texture was watery and the carbonation was less-than-lively.

Poured to a dark brown with hints of ruby, thick tan head that quickly settled to a tan ring and very good lacing. Aroma was that of malt sweetness, nuts and coffee. The flavor was a very pleasant roasted nut blended well with the malty sweetness. Althought the body was a tad on the thin side, the finish was very pleasant and warming. Don’t know what everyone else is rating, but I actually really enjoyed this beer.

On tap at the brewpub, 4/13/06: Dark black with an off-white foam top. Light smoky aroma. Smooth and lightly bittered with an odd twist. Bit thin. But OK.

12 oz. bottle into tulip glass. Purchased at some grocery store in Brookfield, WI sometime in 2004. Smells yeasty and malty with some lemon grass thrown in. Deep red-brown with absolutely no head. Sweet; not much roastiness at all; very flat (I wonder if I got a bad bottle?); not much hop character; slight fruitiness, like diluted cherry juice. Very watery with light to medium body. No character to this beer at all.

Watery pour. Hints of sweet chocolate and coffee. Tastes like its water down. Overpowering bitterness is all I can taste. Hey at the end I can taste a little coffee.

12 oz bottle purchased at Brennan’s Country Market in Brookfield, WI (Oct 2005). Pours rather thinnish, cola-like, with smallish decaying head that leaves a slight taupe ring, no lacing...bit chocolaty and prune-inflected in the aroma, again a bit like Coke, but with some hints of dark chocolate and coffee as it warms...body quite roasty and dry, initially rather beguiling but quickly becoming quite thin and merely dry and papery towards the finish, not nearly enough malt character and a one-dimensional bitterness.

on tap-color is brown. Tastes nutty, malty, mild carbonation. Mild, lacking character beer.

Poured a dark brown with a smaller sized tan head. Subtle aromas and tastes of cocoa, coffee and roasted malts. Thinner body. Nothing about this one really stood out for me.