Firestone Walkers Reserve (Robust Porter)

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

Pours almost black with a khaki head. great aroma, hoppy, chocolately and coffee at the same time. flavor is kind of like that too, good balance between all the elements that make up a flavorful experience. really is somewhere between a porter and a stout, hard to complain about in any way. firestone has to be one of the most consistently good brewers i’ve come across.

Tasting at the brewery. Great dark color with nice chocolate and coffee aromas. Great choclate flavors with good mouthfeel. Nice beer.

Name: Walkers Reserve (Porter)
Date: 01/18/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear dark brown, whispy tan head, rich dry chocolate aroma, big rich chocolate flavor, light bitterness that grows,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Bottle. Pours a dark, deep brown, with a thick, slow developing tan head. Sharp hop aroma, with roasted malt and alcohol coming through as well. Sweet and malty, with some toffee and coffee as well. Fairly light. Some of the woodiness comes through as well.

Not a bad Porter. Pours out a deep brown color with a nice beige head. aroma is full of roasted malt with some nice hoppiness to it. flavor is very similar with a sweetness to it. Over all this is a very nice beer.

Pours with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head that sits atop a brilliantly clear, almost black colored beer that has brown and amber hues to it. The aroma is nice and roasty with definite coffee aromatics. Dusty cocoa powder, toasted grain husks, browned soda crackers, a burnt acidity that is almost wine like at times (though I can’t really put my finger on why). Burnt berry aromatics seem noticeable in front of the burnt acid notes. The aroma of this beer is quite roast driven; coffee-like aromatics and touches of chocolate really form the bulk of the aromatic compounds here.

Light and almost creamy feeling as it first hits my tongue. I actually think I can taste the barrel influence, which I was not really expecting. It is quite subtle, but the wood seems to add a touch of spiciness, some tannic structure to the body and some oak-character especially towards the finish. Lightly sweet up front, the malt sugars are quite complex and roasted though; touches of caramel, some accentuating chocolate notes and a fruitiness are what is noticeable. The fruitiness also seems to be driven by some of the roast derived acidity, which is also apparent here. Spicy oak notes almost give this something akin to a hotness that one would see in a distilled, barrel aged spirit. The creamy body accentuates notes of dark chocolate, which become more apparent as the beer warms up a bit.

This is a tasty beer; the oak definitely adds an interesting even significant component, albeit a fairly subtle one. I like how quaffable this brew is, it is light enough, but has a soft, creaminess to it that is just nice.

650 ml bottle. Dark brown with a creamy tan head. Aroma of chocolate, vanilla, roasted malt, and mild oak notes. Good silky mouth feel. Tastes of robust chocolate, roastiness, and hints of cherries and oak in the finish.

This poured out a dark brown nearly black with a light brown thick head. Smell of roasted malty smell with some dark baker’s chocolate no real hop or spice noticed. Taste is chocolatey and coffee with some woody afternotes. Interesting and quite good actually.