Mill Street Coffee Porter

Brewed by Mill St. Brewery
Style: Porter
Toronto, Canada

You ever think about this before - Coffee...and beer...together...take your cup of morning brew and dump it into a big fat can of something. That would be horrible. This however is not horrible just average. Pours out a very very dark brown that is pretty much black. Small brown cap that did not last, in fact, it totally vanished in no time. Even a vigorous swirl doesn’t produce anything worthwhile. The aroma is dominated by the dark roasted coffee that has been added to the brew. Now that it’s warmer the chocolate and molassas come out and blend nicely. Smells dry but thick. Taste is pretty standard with its thick coffee punch, molassas and weak chocolate. Notable hops but nothing too severe. The faintest hint of alcohol can be noticed on occasion but it is very very weak. Oddly enough I would have to say that this beer is light bodied but gets close to medium. Highly carbonated, borderline smooth only because of the bitter quality. Decent bitter dark roast finish. I do have a small collection of sediment at the bottom of my glass. Just cause there is a strong coffee aroma and taste doesn’t make this an exceptional brew since the overwhelming majority of coffee brews share those characteristics. My breath smells like all the people at work that I hate...which is everyone.

Looks black but I guess it’s really just a very dark brown capped off with a big bubble head with ok retention, not bad looking brew. Coffee dominates the aroma with hidden aspects of coffee, and this is all built on a coffee back bone I guess maybe the slightest hint of roast malt can be detected. Aroma wasn’t week by any stretch of the imagination but could have been stronger and I found the intense coffee aroma was a touch much for me, I would have liked to have had more of the malt come out. The flavor was a lot more malty then the aroma but coffee still dominated this affair. Coffee, coffee, and more coffee was at the front of the taste but you could easily detect dark roasted malts molasses and some biscuit. After taste was very sweet and lingered in the back of my throat for what seemed hours. The mouth fell was a touch thin for the style i thought but wasn’t revolting. I guess this was ok didn’t really wow me but it did seem to be will crafted and a trillion times better the Big Rocks attempt at the style, I just wish they didn’t go so overboard with the coffee with this because if i wanted a cup of coffee i’d go get one.

I must admit, I like my Coffee Porters to be a bit more subtle in the coffee presence. Much like Alley Kat Brewing’s version of the style, Mill Street’s Coffee Porter comes on big and strong in the roasted coffee. However, the base Porter style is clearly well developed in this beer. As a rater, I can see the many good qualities of this beer, even though it’s not one of my favorites.

Bottle from thickfreakness. Thanks Charles! Power Rate #5! YEEHAW!!@!$ Pours black with a lasting light tan head. Smell is coffee and roasted malt along with a hint of fruitiness and cardboard. Flavor is chocolate, light coffee and roasted malts. Somewhat creamy mouthfeel with softish carbonation and a light lingering bitterness to it. Not too bad. I may come back to this after a few more samples.

330ml bottle
5.5% ABV
I tried this beer on April 19, 2009 at "Smokeless Joe’s" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The beer poured a dark brown, almost black with a 1/2" thick tan head. The aroma was roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate. The mouthfeel was l;ight to medium bodied, with medium carbonation. The flavour was sweet with a huge blast of coffee, and some malt, although slightly watery.

smells roasty and malty. its black with some beige head. it tastes very portery with coffee, a thick cheesy mouldy taste i get from porter. it was slightly thinner than medium, and overall made me realize that porter is a style i’ve neglected due to bad experiences in the past.

On tap @ Pepperwood Bistro. Pours black with a thin tan head. Aroma of coffee mixed with chocolate. I didn’t think the coffee was as much in the flavor and the porter was a bit thin to me. Average.

Nice coffee beer. Black pour with a big bubbly tan head. Coffee dominates the nose with some roast in the background. Flavor is tons of coffee, roast and a bit of chocolate. A tad thin but if you like coffee in your beer, hit this for sure!