Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Dunkel
San Marcos, California USA

The mouthfeel and body on this really seems more like an ale on this one, and the overall flavor reminds me of a sweetish altbier - anyway - it pours hazy amber, with a frothy beige head - the aroma is doughy, nutty, toasty, with a wee bit of caramel and chocolate - full, creamy mouthfeel - a lot of chocolate and roasted nuts, toasted cereal grains, mild bitterness - the finish is of toasted, almost burnt grain - the alcohol presence in the finish suggest a beer much stronger than 6.5%, so if that’s all it is, they’ve done a pretty bad job of covering it up - flavorful, but a little messy and forgettable.

My Bottom Line:
Smoky dark chocolate is found within roasted and toasted cereals, leading to a levelled bitterness of roasted malts and wooden hops.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the dark mahogany.
-An intrusive vegetal character was kind of bothersome.
-This is very drinkable throughout; the mouthfeel is conducive to taking large gulps.
-I really like the flavors that come from the grain bill here.

Bottle.

Sampled at the DC Local Gathering. Again, lost track of who brought this. Pours a murky, muddy brown with a thin, slightly off white head. Aroma is very pleasant, molasses, brown sugar, toasted malts. Flavor is sweet, more brown sugar, more molasses, more toasty malts with some light, milk chocolate. Soft, chalky finish. Very enjoyable. I think this was also sampled at the right time during the tasting as well.

Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez MartinT. Arôme: Odeur de caramel avec une pointe de noix et d’houblons. Apparence: La couleur est brune légèrement opaque. Saveur: Goût de caramel avec une pointe d’houblons et de de fumée. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement fumé. (Rating #2575)

This is a great brew and I highly recommend this easy to drink dark lager. Carmelized malt flavors abound. No hop presence but enough to round off the sweetness. I could drink this all the time. I’ve had this on draft and in the bottle and if I lived in Cali I would keep this in my fridge. Easy to drink I just love the carmelized malt flavor from the stein process! Great job Tonya and Tomme!

DC Gathering, 22oz bottle courtesy of CaptainCougar. Deep brown color. Big, rich, roasty. Some sugary smokiness, maybe a touch of amber malt in there as well. Thick and sticky. Medium to full bodied. A quality beer all the way, full of flavor.

Bottle from DTM. Well, I’m surprised to see it’s a dunkel because it’s the best lager I’ve tasted (from a bottle). Excellently smooth and full. Great on a summer night.

Bottle shared by Todd. Thanks. Pours a deep, cloudy amber with a whispy white head. Nose is rich caramel, slightly nutty and a bit of hops. Drinks pretty easy, kind of reminded me of a lighter arrogant bastard. A little hot in the finish, but overall pretty good.