Sierra Nevada Porter

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Chico, California USA

(Bottle). Aroma of malt and coffee. Black with tan head. Flavor bittersweet chocolate, malt, coffee. Not as flavorful as some other porters. Finish is a bit sour.

Bottle. Pours a nearly opaque black with a thick tan head. Aroma is nice! Quite robust, lots of coffee and roast. Flavor is less delicious than the roasty aroma, nice malt sweetness. Slightly weak but smooth palate. Quality porter.

Bottle. Aroma coffee, roasted malt, light hops. Flavor coffee, roasted malt, perfect bitterness. Delicate but lively carbonation. While there is nothing that particularly stands out about this beer, it’s just a great porter. If I were rating to style, the score would be noticeably higher, but alas, I’ll stick to my standard scale.

Smells of very dark roasted malts, chocolate and coffee notes. Taste is nice and rich dark coffee/chocolate malts. A little watery with plenty of bitter hops. Very tasty

Sampled from bottle @ the BevMo Mission Valley Friday beer tasting. Beer was served WAY too cold. Poured a very dark brown with a light beige head, minuscule. Toasted malt with a very light hop bitterness. I’ll have to try this beer again when it’s not moments from freezing.

In my oh-so-humble opinion, the beauty of a perfectly balanced, expressive, rich, smooth porter oft gets overlooked amidst the towering legacy of Guinness and the indomitable stout. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good stout, ut in a world of very few dark beers, the porter deserves a place in your fridge.
I have many favorite porters, but for today, the ever sublime Sierra Nevada Porter is taking up shelf space in my fridge and sitting pretty in my glass right next to me. Pouring a viscous dark brown, a small yet tight head forms as the last drop drips out of the squat, 12 oz bottle. The head doesn’t fully disappear, instead a thin layer of rests on top of the porter, coating the sides of the glass in beautiful Brussels lace as I drink. Each sip reveals layers of toasted nuts, rich malty sweetness, a light lemony zest which could be attributed to the hops with a medium body and smooth palate, the Sierra Nevada Porter goes down easy, leaving a lingering dryness on the middle of the tongue. In the nose I definitely smell more of the lemon zest which is very subtle itself in the porter. The rich toasted nuts, hint of raisins and sweet burnt maltiness makes the Sierra Nevada Porter simply melt in my mouth - bliss.

Bottle with dinner. Pours dark brown with thick head.. Aroma of chocolate, flavor of caramel, chocolate and toffee. Smooth and drinkable. Good beer!

12oz bottle served in an English pint glass. Pours dark brown with a big beige head. Smells of dusty chocolate and caramel. Nice balanced flavor with notes of dark chocolate and coffee, light bitterness. Nice head retention. Smooth on the palate with a very slight carbonation sting. Very good porter.