Goose Island BeerHunter Brown Porter

Cask at the brewpub. Deep brown-black-amber color. Odd patchy head. Sweet bitter toffee aroma. Served near room temperature, very mellow to no existent carbonation. Sweet, quite a lot of brown sugary taste. Toffee, chocolate as well. More in the Brown Ale style in my opinion, but enough chocolate malt tastes to slip into Porterville. Good, but seemed a touch too warm for it’s own benefit.

Tap the the brewpub (Clybourn Location): Deep brown ruby pour with a ruby hue and a fading tan head. Richly malty aroma- fruity undertones suggesting raisin like notes with a chocolaty and nutty presence as well. Creamy body with a rounded malt flavor. Fruity upfront with some roasted raisin and plum. Some chocolaty malts are apparent in the middle with later smooth roast and a nutty richness. A nice porter. (R.I.P. Michael Jackson)

On cask at GI Clybourn served in a an English pint glass. Dark cola brown pour with a thin tan head of bubbly foam. Decent retention with minimal lacing. The aroma had strong notes of baker’s chocolate, coffee, caramel, and also some nice English hops. The flavor had a rich chocolate note followed by some caramel, light coffe, and a light earthy hoppiness. Medium-bodied. Minimal carbonation. I tried the regular tap and the cask, and the difference was night and day. The chocolate and roast as well as the hops were much more intense in the cask serving. I rated the tap a 3.3.

Thanks to thickfreakness for the bottle shared! Pours dark brown with a short lived biege head. Smell is aged sweet sugary malt. Taste is tart, sour and spoiled with a lasting sourness in the finish. Thin body and carbonation was normal. Spoiled and not enjoyable.

This poured dark brown to black in color with a thin khaki head. The nsoe gave off aromas of chocolate, caramel malt, candi sugar and spice. In the mouth it was medium-bodied and quite tart which was a big surprise. The flavors were mainly masked by the tartness. Odd.

20th Anniversary bottle acquired via trade with chicagodri...thanks Paul!!! Love the fact that this was the beer’s 9th rating, didn’t enjoy the beer. This beer pours muddy, murky river water with an 1/8 inch eggshell head. Aroma is somewhat sour and flavor is lactic...something is definitely off here. My rating so far from the others that I can only guess I got a bad bottle. It will be interesting to find out if I’m the only one.

In bottle due to the anniversary collection going on right now. Pours a clear brown with a thin tan head. Mild aroma, some smoke, nuts, and some more malt. Little bit of bitterness, decent flavor. I think it seemed a little thin thought. Average porter.

Ah, finally got my MBA due to this one. Deep red brown, not opaque. light fluffy head. Nose has a lot of sweet chocolate, a touch ashy in the nose as well. On taste, nice and easy drinking, lots of chocolate, minimal hop presence. Most burnt chocolate. Far superior to Dead Goat, but I wish that GI would work more on their porters. Nice enough.