Oaken Barrel Snake-Pit Porter

Brewed by Oaken Barrel Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Greenwood, Indiana USA

Bottle courtesy of stfun. Pours dark brown with a thin tan head. Smells of chocolate, some spice, molasses. Tastes of roasted malt, some bitterness, some licorice. Mouthfeel is full bodied and oily. Finish yields lots of complimentary spiciness. Very good!

Thursday night growler. pours a black color with very slight amber edging. Thin light tan head that left some lacing. Aroma is a little light with notes of chocolate and caramel type maltyness. Nice roasted flavor of roasted and toasted malts with hints of milk chocolate, coffee, some vanilla, and spice with a well balanced bitter finish. Med to full body, light lively carb, creamy texture and feel. This is a very very fine porter.

TAP: very dark pour, with a nice chocolate nose. Chocolate and roast on taste, very creamy, excellent beer.

Fantastic label. Black body, neither chalky nor oily looking, neither thick nor thin in appearance. I suppose it’s got standard written all over it, but it looks very appetizing. The head that rises from the body is impossibly thick, built from catacombs of cavernous bubbles and absurdly creamy froth. Retention is otherworldly. Lacing left behind looks like something exploded from the depths of the glass, scattered about with ferocious intention. Roastiness is immediately quantifiable in the nose. Coffee follows, sweet and straight-forward. This beer is teeming with hops, undefined citrus notes escaping the glass. There are also some soft lactic qualities apparent, providing a sense of creamer added to the coffee that isn’t even in here in the first place. Definitely a robust porter. Flavor is very well balanced, very chocolatey. Coffee only wiggles forth as the chocolate malt and roast recedes, near the finish. Hops are an excellent balancing agent, restrained citric qualities but plenty of bittering. This beer actually tastes really exciting; expectations were quite low but this is delicious. A nice balance in the flavor between roast and sweetness, lactic qualities and bitterness, cream and coffee. Palate is medium-full to full bodied, well carbonated without any excess fizziness, balanced. Finishes with hints of dusty cocoa and sweet black coffee. Very surprising, highly drinkable and one to try again.

Best brewpub porter I have had - VERY good. Wonderful roasty, chocolatey aroma, thick tan head. Medium body, rich chocolate, roasted malt and caramel flavors. Great balance of hop, malt, and roasted flavors. I love this beer.

On tap. Hazy, deep cola brown. Great porter aroma. Smooth drinking, superbly balanced. Roasty coffee without overbittering from the patent malts. Creamy, but carbonated well. Very fine. A nice surprise.

Bottled. The body was black with some ruby at the edge. A light brown and orange head on top. the aroma was sweet pancakes with some chocolate. There was also some definite malt. The taste was milk chocolate with some mocha. There was a bubblegum finish. Fairly thick body for the style. Nicely done.

Courtesy of StFun w2ho I’d like to thank for sending a growler AND a 12 oz bottle of this because it allowed me to just sit back and enjoy the growler, be sociable and just have a good time and then to later rate the bottle when I felt like it. The aroma has a little bit of milk sugar, powdered malt notes, gobs of milk chocolate and very faint coffee notes. Malted milk ball is a great description of the aroma. The body is a dark ruby hued brown and holds an attractive, thumb thick, creamy mocha head that is quite lasting. It leaves very clingy, clumpy lace. Very concentrated toffee, caramel and roast malt flavors on the fore. Very caramelized tasting. I wonder if they have a direct fired kettle. Chocolate and more caramel and toffee work well into the finish then leads into milk sugars and alcohol. Overtly sweet, but it works well here. This is a pretty tasty brew on the whole.