John Sleeman Presents Fine Porter

Brewed by Sleeman Brewing & Malting Co. (Sapporo)
Style: Porter
Guelph, Canada

Pours a three finger, light tan head that fades to a shallow layer leaving a good lace. Deep amber color. Medium carbonation and heavy bodied. Roasted chocolate nose. Starts with a roasted/burnt coffee flavor, finish is burnt coffee. $1.29 for a 330ml bottle from John’s Grocery Iowa City, IA.

Bottle, part of a Sleeman sampler. Pours deep brown. Not much taste for a porter, though body was OK. I get roast flavors and a lot of carbonation. Best of the Sleeman sampler, but that really is not saying much.

Bottle- This bottle’s lable says "porter 68", since it’s the time of season, the only porter by sleeman, and the same ABV I would assume that its the same... Pours a dark brown with a bubbly head. Aroma very faint of malt. Tastes lightly of what I can only perceive as roasted malt. Harsh Carbonation. Drinks thinly. Not really anything I would every buy again, but definitly not a sink pour.

This porter pours a deep amber color from a 11.5oz bottle. Medium sized tan head. Aroma is mild, some bad coffee, some roasty malt and a hint of brown sugar. A light bodied porter. Malts are slightly roasty, with some cheap coffee and cheap chocolate flavor. Hops are kind of earthy, well sort of dirt like more than anything else. Lively carbonation. Has an artificial plasticy aftertaste that is not in any way good. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is bitter and astringent.

Bottle. Very dark brown with a beige head. Aromas are light roast malts with chocolate, weetabix and cocoa powder. Flavours are sweet coffee with lots of maltiness and sweet chocolate. Spicy towards the finish with a dry aftertaste. Not bad.

Pours with a nice head and some lace that lasts a bit. Good dark mahoganey color. Flavor’s a bit off. Over carbonated. Not much depth. Still, there is a somewhat pleasant chocolatey finish. Could do worse. Could do a whole lot better. Word on the street that this is brewed by City Brewery in La Crosse. Had it on draft at Bodega downtown.

Tallahassee, Fl. - 12 oz bottle - part of a variety pack found at Albertson’s Liquor store. Light brown pour, slight mocha head - too light for a porter. Earthy, malty aroma with hints of chocolate. Flavor has some chocolate notes, hints of caramel and bit of ripening vegetable funkiness in the back end. Reminds me somewhat of a Dunkel in that sense. Coffee is also a late entry. Mouthfeel is just thick and chalky enough to keep it at a 3.

Y’know, nothing beats finding a new sampler of 4 different beers. Especially today, not a cloud in the sky, no humidity, a fine 75º. But it kind of stinks that a couple of the beers were just rebranded versions of other stuff that I’d already had. Not this beer though. Initially, from the bottle, an unusual perfumy aley aroma. From the glass, it smelled more chocolatey - bitter chocolate cake aroma. This is in the new and improved brown bottle - which let me say again, I like the Sleeman bottles, especially now that they’re brown. The flavor kinda blew the shift though. It was roasty and plastery, but those were the only two dimensions. Kinda like someone brewed the coffee too strong, then dumped in unflavored antacids to buffer the solution. Sure, there were twinges of tanginess and a feint at bitterness, but just think "chalky coffee" and you’re there. Coffee finish, medium body.