Firestone Walkers Reserve (Robust Porter)

Brewed by Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
Paso Robles, California USA

Pours with a large off-white, lasting head with good lacing. Dark brown in color with an aroma of vanilla, hops, oak and molasses. Starts sweet with a bitter finish and a somewhat chocolatey flavor with a nutty undertone. Full bodied with creamy texture. A decent beer overall, very enjoyable.

Pours with small-average sized head that is light brown. The head longevity is mostly diminshing. The pint i got had some very tiny body particles inside its medium brown complexion. The beer smelled of molasses and caramel with some pretty strong coffee overtones. The beer tasted lightly sweet initially and the finish was a little less sweet with a tad bit of bitterness. The body felt medium to the palate with a syrupy texture. Lively Carbonation.

Pours with a huge, light brown, creamy head that leaves good lacing and has good retention. Ultra dark brown body. Aroma of vanilla, dry coffee, and oak. Taste is woody, nutty, with chocolate and finishes a bit metallicy. Decent amount of chocolate. A truely chocolate heavy porter (as opposed to a more common dry coffee porter). Sharp carbonation with a creamy mouthfeel and a full body.

THOUGHTS: A little disappointing. Sure it’s great, but it sounded like it was going to be nearly perfect for my tastes and likings. It was nice, but the description mad it seem like it’d be way more complex. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, dark red that looked brown in the glass with a huge rocky and foamy, off-white head that slowly diminished and left excellent lacing at first but then barely fair lacing later. After the yeast was poured the beer in the glass became a dark, almost opaque brown. The aroma was moderate to heavy mild coffee malt, light herbal hops, light earthy yeast, and a woodiness, that I wouldn’t really call nice wood. It also smelled a little Belgian with the bottle conditioning. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and acidic, and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet and bitter, and lightly acidic with an average duration. There was caramel malt, then bitter coffee, mild coffee then herbal hops. There was also slight chocolate, but not much. The medium to full body was creamy with very fizzy carbonation and a light astringent and ever so slightly metallic finish.

bomber thanks to Dunk. Pours a dark brown with thin brown head which dissipated immediately. Nose was not impressive. Light smoke and malt. Taste was burnt, unsugared tea and malt. Mouthfeel medium-to-thin and watery.

This was really a good example of a solid porter. Really nothing overwhelming, nor anything negative. Very smooth, a bit chocolaty, roasted malt and dry. All a porter should be.

22 oz. bottle from my Secret Santa. Thanks! Medium brown pour with 2-finger head. Aroma is light roasted malt with a heavier hop profile than expected. Taste of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and hops. Medium body.

Very mild aroma with hints of chocolate. Dark brown with very minimal head lasting only a short while. Flavor typical of a good porter: little bit of smoky flavor but also some chocolate and pale malty tones. Feels good going down but not much character and development. Very subtle and reserved. Overall impression is good! A nice, easy to drink porter.