Great Divide St. Bridgets Porter (St. Brigids)

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Denver, Colorado USA

Pours a clearish almost black color with intense ruby highlights. The head is light brown and lightly substantial when roused. The aroma as I pour this beer is mostly of buttery diacetyl and chocolate. As I go in for a deeper sniff, my worst fears are realized as it smells like a used and abused popcorn machine with it’s fake buttery scents. There is a hint of chocolate and roast malt, but it is overwhelmingly drowned out by the diacetyl.

Dare I take a sip, I do. Up front it is lightly sweet, light bodied with a maltiness that, unfortunately melds into a finish that is dominated by the diacetyl (butter, and butterscotch). The diacetyl is not as evident in the taste as it is in the aroma, and in that sense this beer is not quite as bad as I was expecting. The dark malt notes are barely perceptible in the taste, there is really not any roast character, just a nice chocolate-like finish. Without the diacetyl, this seems to be a straight forward easy drinking porter that would be really nice to have a few pints of while at the bar, with it I am afraid this is not worth finishing.

Glory be, Lasses and Lads! This brew is pretty good, if I do say so myself. Reminds me of an Irish joke: How do you keep an Irishman in suspense? Pours a thick black with a medium head. Aroma is steak (yikes!) with a bit of liquid smoke. Flavor is smokey chocolate, with a subtle chocolate finish. And when I say subtle, I mean subtle. Palate is a tad watery, but the taste makes up for it. I’ll be buying more of these in the future.

Dark Brown Coloring. Small Head. Pretty Decent Porter. Good Coffee and Chocolate Tastes. Quite Bitter. Overall Very Good!

Bottled at Bishops Arms, Avenyn, Göteborg, Sweden. Dark brown, small beige head. Fruity and roasted malt aroma, some citric hops. Medium bodoed, good carbonation. Good balance. A bit dull.

Nearly black colored, small layer of a head on top. toasted malt nose. Nice toasted malt taste - some light milk chocoalte traces. Medium long aftertaste. Nice - well balanced.

12 ounce bottle from Total Wine Triangle Plaza, Raleigh, NC. Pours a clear very dark brown color with a thin brown head. Fair head retention and lacing. Aroma is chocolatey and nutty with tea and roasted malts. Taste is roasted malts, nuts, chocolate and a faint leafiness. Medium bodied. Decent, but a little underwhelming.

Nice porter. Moderate roasted flavors blended with medium sweetness. A nice hop balance, but a bit thin in body. Would make a good "session porter".

Dark brown with frothy off white head.Roasted malt nose.Lightly roasted nutty smooth malt flavor with decent hops in the finish. Good body Re rate Oct 30/05 This bottle has a distinct metallic taste which ruins the beer.