Magnolia Cole Porter

Black with a creamy tan head. Nice chocolate molasses and roasted grain aroma. Rich chocolate flavor with a creamy mouth feel and buttery roasty notes. Good.

On tap at the brewery. This opaque brown ale poured with a fluffy tan head and a treacle aroma. There is a slightly thin roasted malt flavor with some coffee notes.

Draft @ the brewpub. Pours a black color with a tan head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasted malty chocolate and coffee flavor. Has a roasted malty chocolate finish with some hints of coffee in the aftertaste.

On tap at Alembic. A decent porter. I don’t know if it’s quite "one step away from being a stout" though, unless that step is a big step in fullness of palate. Black color with a medium tan head. Aroma is mostly roasted malts and coffee. Hops apparent. Flavor is roasty with a coffee taste that lingers at the end. Medium palate, maybe a little thinner than I’d like.

Cask. Pours a black color with a large, tan head. Nice malted milk ball aroma. Thin body, toast and malts dominate here. Bitter, burnt finish.

On tap at Magnolia. Pours black with two finger brown head. Pretty thin mouthfeel. Strong coffee aftertaste. Not really memorable.

Draught at Magnolia Brewpub on Haight St. in San Francisco, July 2008. Cask. This struck me as watery. The usual chocolate, coffee aroma plus some licorice; coffee seems light in both aroma and flavour. Black in colour, light in bitterness.

Draft. Brown/black beer with a tan head. Chocolate and light roast aroma. Chocolate, light roast flavor with some acrid malt. Medium body. Acrid malt lingers with chocolate, roast, and slight coffee.