Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager

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

22oz bottle pours dark brown, off white head. aroma is malty with light hops. taste, roasted malts, choclate, grainy mouthfeel. Some light floral hops, caramel, med carbonation with a light bready palate. Smooth and easy to drink, keeps a nice caramel finish with some sweetness.

Bottle shared by Shyam at Papago. Nose is light, clean banana with nicely roasted malt. Color is a nice looking red brown rock color. Flavor is like the aroma with candi sugar and mild alcohol. Seems reasonably authentic.

Pours a murky brown with an almost purplish tinge in color. Smells of cinomin and spice. The flavor consists of some spices which are unknown to me as well as dark fruits. It has many flavors similar to a watered down quad. Also noticed some wine esc flavors.

In short: A lot of creamy brown cereals, almonds and notes of black pepper. Nice brew that stands out in the USA market.
How: Bottle 22oz. Sent to me as a bonus by toncatcher. Thanks a lot Dennis
The look: Partly cloudy brown body topped by a small beige head
In long: The nose has a lot of this big “brown” stuff. Unmistakably lager and this beer is not lacking is the cereals department. Also quite spicy on the nose. In mouth the beer is lively and the carbonation is a bit aggressive. The first flavour that came to me was spicy roasted almonds. Strong notes of black pepper. If black pepper is not used in this beer than it is one of the most peppery unpeppered beer I’ve had. A lot of chewy cereals with round and smooth caramel. Whole-wheat bread and almond cake sensation. A little brown sugar but overall really not too sweet. This is a rather pleasant beer in a style that is under-represented in North-America. I just read the ratebeer description here that says that this beer is a collaboration of Tomme Arthur and Tonya Something of Something Brewing. Good for them.

Bomber. Pours a deep, dark, reddish black-brown. I’ve had this on tap, so I’m interested to see about the bottle. Aroma is light, of nuts, and sweet malts. Flavor is nutty, lightly bitter, and yeasty, almost of stale bread (but not in a terrible sense). Carbonation and slender body make this an interesting brew that was, not surprisingly, better on tap.

(DC Local Gathering, 22oz bottle, thanks CaptainCougar) Dark brownish amber, white fizzy head. Toasted caramel and molasses aromas rest on lighter swirls of smoked bread. Light chocolate and caramel coffee flavor sit on a light bitter foundation on throughout. Light to medium bodied, soft carbonation, malty finish. Quite the session brew…

Pours clear dark brown with a 3 finger creamy tan head that has great retention and leaves nice lacing for about half of the glass. Aroma is mild coffee, planty hops, wheat bread, a little caramel and just a hint of roast, doughy right bread, aroma is overall pretty weak though. Flavor is coffee, roast, bittersweet chocolate, burnt sugar, light bitter hops, planty hops, a little straw, roasted mixed nuts, fresh wheat grain and toasted white bread. Finish is planty hops, chocolate, bitter hops, white bread and a nice, crisp lager yeast fade. Palate is medium to light bodied with a very active, but not too sharp carbonation, creamy entry and neutral, but fizzy finish. Good stuff overall. Seems like they just took a stout recipe, threw in some german hops and lagered it. It’s alot less sweet, more bitter and more roasty than any dunkel I can remember having. Still, if it’s a dunkel, it’s a dunkel and one of the better dunkels I have had.

22 oz bottle, via TheCheeseMan. Pours a clear dark brown body with a fizzy light brown head that had excellent retention for a Lager. The nose is slightly sweet toasted and husky malts with lighter hints of nuttiness and coffee. The flavor is very clean with toasty and lightly roasted malt. A little caramelized sugar and even a hint of smoke. Finishes very crisp with a nice balancing hop bitterness that keeps it from getting too sweet. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a bit of stickiness and a good bit of fizzy effervescent carbonation. A very nice beer, but probably stretching the bounds of a Dunkel with the hop levels.