Sea Dog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter

Brewed by Sea Dog Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: Porter
Topsham, Maine USA

[tap @ Strangebrew 3/31/06] Pours a near black color, with a thin head. Aroma is mostly coffee, slight malts. Flavors are again, mostly roasted coffee and malts- very little hazelnut character to speak of. Not quite what I expected.

26-Mar-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 22-Jul-05 in trade with jjpm74, thanks John!) "Best enjoyed before Feb ’06". Picked up a second bottle for some reason, so I wasn’t really in much of a hurry to get to it. I typically prefer porters with some age, but the 9 months hasn’t done anything positive for this beer, it’s still a bizarre porter. Moderately roasty, nutty, maybe a little chocolaty, sweet, somewhat buttery, gently bitter, this really does come across more as a nut brown ale than a porter. Nutty aroma shows only a hint of roast though. Medium bodied and very carbonated in the mouth. Medium brown in color and translucent through the center of the glass. Massive, tan head required spooning out to actually get the beer to my lips without getting a face full of foam. A fair amount of lace is left on the glass. Not really liking this as much this time around.

09-Oct-04 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 08-Oct-04 in trade with jasonp, thanks Jason!) An interesting porter to say the least. It’s moderately roasty, lightly sweet, and fairly bitter, but the hazelnut adds enough flavor that this beer is bordering on a very bold nut brown. Overall, very nicely balanced. The palate is pretty creamy and rich, coating the mouth fully. The nose is coffee, sweet chocolate and hazelnut, but I swear the hazelnut aroma reminds me of some sort of vegetable/root like maybe parsnips or something. Deep mahogany in color, but not so dark that you can’t see through the beer. Tan head only rises to about half-an-inch thick on the pour, but maintains a solid layer, even as I continue to take sips from the glass. Unfortunately, the pretty, long-lasting head is unable to deposit much lacing on the glass at all. (7, 4, 7, 4, 14 = 3.6)

Dark brown with some ruby tints. Light cocoa aroma accompanied by buttery and toasty hazelnuts. Bitter roasty coffee flavors with some light hazelnut and hint of licorice in the finish. Not bad.

Pours a three-finger light brown head that fades quickly to a thin layer leaving some lace. Nice deep amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Sweet hazelnut nose. Starts sweet, chocolate/hazelnut flavor is right up front but not overbearing - hops are balancing, finish is clean. $1.25 for a 12 oz bottle from Capital Convenience Concord, NH.

Pours deep garnet with a small off-white head. Remarkably non-opaque. Excellent milk chocolate aroma, with the hazelnut coming in strong with the second sniff. Some toast and nuts. Very good Porter flavor somewhat ruined by a touch of hazelnut. The beginning is roasty, with the hazelnut coming in not long after. The finish is nicely bitter, with lingering almond. Would be better without the extra flavoring (and with a little more roastiness), but still good.

Sweet cola aroma with noble hops. Very thin pour of dark crimson with a nice and fluffy off-white head. Sweet and malty with toasted hazelnuts and a very distinct bitter/hoppy note. As it goes forward, hazelnuts become mildly annoying and artificial tasting. Finishes clean with the ringwood wrapup.

Thanks sethdude. This is all hazelnut, nose and taste man. Ricj foamy tan head on a black body. Noy a big fan of hazel nut, but I am like this.

(bottle - 12 oz) Clear and deep ruby color with about a half inch of tan head. Roasty and nutty aroma with lots of hazelnut flavor underneath it all. The flavor begins with a nice and roasted malt taste with a very subtle and light hazelnut flavor. Hazelnut isn’t as overpowering as I thought it would be, and the finish is smooth and malty. Lightly bitter aftertaste with hints of roasted malts. Very good porter.