Mishawaka Ella Rose Porter

Nice dark brown color and persistent head. Malty aroma, not much chocolate or hops. Taste is very tart, lactic, and fruity in the finish -- makes me think of it as a sour cherry porter.

Dark brown colour with rich inch-thick foam. Breadcrusty dark malts, moderate roast in the aroma. Really tart. Still a fair bit of chocolate and roast character. The body, surprisingly, is still quite full, rounded. Makes me wonder how much of the tartness is intentional. (I know Scotch Irish made an excellent traditional porter with this much acidity). In truth, it doesn’t seem like the acidity is entirely deliberate, at least to this level. But even though the balance is off, it still doesn’t seem entirely out of place. The finish is predictably tart, playing off sweet chocolate notes. That the malt and body still remain makes this perplexing and challenging. Heck, it may or may not be going off, but I finished and enjoyed a bomber.

Sampled at the Milwaukee YEHa!05 courtesy of BBB63: Pours a transparent dark brown with a thin, off-white head. Lightly chalky sweet dark caramel aroma. Body starts thin, semi-sweet, turning more watery toward a thin, dry finish. Bland and uninteresting, hardly anything worth drinking here.

Clear brown body, thin brown head. Brown / caramel malt aroma. Crystal malt flavor w/ coffee beans and leafy hops. A crappy porter.

Bottle from BBB63. Black in color with a medium brown color at the edges when backlit. Attractive light brownhead which is dense and long-lived. Good lacing left behind. Roasted barley aroma, coffee. LIght bodied and a touch overcarbonated. Acrid, roasted barley flavor, some coffee perhaps. Underwhelming.

Tap. Chocolate malt aroma. Midnight black with a small head. Smooth creamy dark chocolate/burnt coffee flavor with slight hops. Medium bodied. Nice smooth tasting porter.

On tap at the pub. The beer I had was a dark beer as served in the 10 oz. glass, with mahagony hues when held up to the light. Thin beige head with a nose that had hints of something roasted in it but also something lactic and sour. The flavor had some milk chocolate, white sugar sweetness and an almost cinnimon spice sense to it. There was also something sour in there that I just don’t prefer in a porter. Maybe if I would have had a cigar...

Served way too cold, on draught on the day after Turkey day. Quite chocolately, with nearly zero hop presence, this has a firm body, and good looks. Roasty, but mostly chocolate. I was bummed when halfway through this someone lit up a cigar. (No way this is a Baltic; there is no raisiny, fruity sweetness...)