Lost Coast Chocolate Porter

Brewed by Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe
Style: Porter
Eureka, California USA

On tap at the Oldsmar Tap House courtesy of Matta, thanks buddy. Pours deep dark into a 16oz tumbler with infra red edges and semi frothy mocha head. A bit of sheet lacing too. Mild aroma of semi sweet roasted malts, mild burnt malts and not much else. It has a rich malty flavor. I get a hodgepodge of roasted malts, burnt malts, chocolate malts and a modest amount of malt sweetness. The burnt malt notes grow some into the finish. There’s also brief tingling of mild vague hoppiness about midway. Leaves a pleasing roasty, chocolate, burnt maltiness into the after taste. I enjoy the bold style blurring maltiness of this brew.

on draft @ redlight. Dark chestnut brown color with a thin light tan head. Light nutty chocolate aroma, kind of mild. Nutty taste, borders on sour, but the chocolate character is still there to balance everything out. Decent but not outstanding.

Tap: Dark black with a small off-white head. It’s pretty sweet with a mild coffee chaser. There is a definite chocolate presence. The aroma is malty and chocolaty sweet with a little peat sprinkled in. The aftertaste matches this as well - sweet and earthy. It was almost too sweet for me.

Draft at Redlight. Pours dark mahogany, appearing black at first glance. A small, foamy, khaki colored head leaves fleeting sheets of lacing behind. Aromas were chocolaty, with tons of roasted barley and caramel malts. Some earthy hops and a touch of mocha add balance. Flavors follow that same pattern, with a good deal of chocolate sweetness and bitter roast countering each other well. Full flavored and highly drinkable, with a light enough body for a great session beer. Finishes dry, with a long mocha finish. Tasty stuff. I’d definitely have another.

On tap at Oldsmar Tap House. Pours pitch black with slight brown highlights. A ton of creamy, light-caramel head. Very creamy lacing that sticks to the glass like glue. Roasty malts, chocolate, light caramel. Soft body of chocolate, not as powerful as expected. Roasted qualities rest on the tongue. Slight coffee finish. Thin-bodied, fairly light in alcohol. Roasted finish. Pretty good.

Draft @ Redlight. Medium chocolate aroma with a background of roast and ash. Pretty dark but the room isn’t well lit to begin with. The bouncy techno music bounces ff the color making this beer seem overly serene in comparison. It is topped wit a thin khaki layer of foam. A touch colder than I want, I’m going to take my time with this. It is initially quite roasty and ashy with a long burnt chocolate finish. Some minutes later as the beer warmed a darker bitter chocolate arrived on scene. Meanwhile some light brown lacing set up camp on the side of the glass opposite from which I’m drinking. I can’t help but be surprised that this beer has gotten drier, rather than sweeter, as it has come up to temperature.

On tap at the Green Dragon in Portland, OR. Nice Porter. Pours dark brown with tan head. Quite a lot of lacing in the glass. Decent mouthfeel. Coffee and malt in the nose...pretty much standard porter fare in the taste, nothing too special...but not bad either. There was something in the taste that I couldn’t identify...a more experienced taster perhaps. Wish I could put my finger out it.

On Tap at the Federal in Durham, NC. Very dark brown with a little light creeping through when held to the light. I don’t get the abundance of chocolate that I expected when I sniff this one but it’s definitely there. Strong roasted malt presence. Slightly more chocolate tasting than most porters but not over the top. Very solid robust porter.