Kona Pipeline Porter

Brewed by Kona Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Kailua Kona, Hawaii USA

This was not what I was expecting. I’ve had Young’s Double Chocolate and that was obviously a stout with chocolate added in. This borders on coffee with a porter added in. The body and the palate are all beer, but I tasted coffee first and foremost. I like beer for being beer, and this was a bit of a shock. Once I got past that, and decided to evaluate the beer on its own terms, I can appreciate it for how well the porter and coffee blend. Take my rating with grain of salt, I’m a green tea guy, rarely drinking coffee.

Solid porter with just the right amount of coffee. This beer has plenty going on, such as chocolate and coffee and roast and toast, but it’s also pretty easy to drink. And it’s not overly sweet like many porters.

This is a pretty straight forward beer. The aroma has your kona flavor to it, as the beer is a brown, medium body to it while not being overpowering, nice with a slight lingering coffee taste but it’s far better than your average porter.

Pours the color of coffee. Nose is a bit flat, which disappoints as nothing tops the aroma of freshly brewed coffee for me. What malt background I detect is lightly roasted but there are no burnt notes. Caramel is dominant. Coffee is very prominent flavor-wise, however, but doesn’t overwhelm. It allows for some chocolate and bitter complements. Mouthfeel is superb and satiny. This is a session porter if ever there was one. Finishes dry, without much residual sugar, but with plenty of lingering coffee flavor. Coffee takes center-stage with little malt flair but the beer is not flat and the flavor places this amongst the top of coffee beers, properly behind Founders, Dogifsh Head, and New Glarus and well ahead of Lost Coast’s regrettable Java Brown.

Bottle. Pours a dark black with a small, clingy, foamy, tan head that lasts. Tastes is of smoke, roasted malt, coffee, caramel, toffee and hops. Similar aroma. Body is a little thin and slightly watery. A nice beer, but something is holding it back from being a great beer.

Tap at Barcade. Pours a coffee black. Nose smells exactly like espresso beans. Mouthful is a bit thin which surprised me. I expected a more robust flavor. There are some light hops up front then the coffee espresso hits. But it’s a tad jumbled the espresso is there but it’s not as dominant as the nose would lead you to believe. Their is some sweetness in the finish where I expected bitter. Overall not what I expected but fairly drinkable. I guess the nose threw me off a bit.

Sweet molasses and roasted coffee aroma black brown color with a thin tan head. Light on the palate, lingering bitterness from either hops or coffee. Almost no hops characteristic. The roasted malts pair well with the coffee. My only problem is the body is too light. Or it could have been a little sweeter.

A very pleasant beer. It has some nice coffee notes, but at the same time it’s fairly light-bodied for a porter. Refreshing and smooth, just like the picture on the label.