Silver Gulch Pick Axe Porter

Brewed by Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Co.
Style: Porter
Fairbanks, Alaska USA

12oz bottle acquired in trade with BeerandBlues2 (thanks!). Poured a deep brown color with a red tint and a smaller sized tan head. Aromas of chocolate, roast, caramel, light smoke and light coffee. Tastes of chocolate, roast, caramel and had a light coffee finish. Tastes, like the body, a tad on the thin side.

Pour a thick brown color with a moderate tan head. Just a small amount of lace. Lighter aromas with some dark toffee, milk chocolate and subtle citrus. I'm glad the PWN hops do not come through. Some what silky in feel, but an acidic malt feel throughout. Borders on a brown ale. Light toasted malt and mild grapefruit hops. Could use more black malt to boost the flavors a touch (just my opinion).

Deep brwon with reddish highlights and a creamy tan head and very good lacing. The aroma hints of cashews, roasted cark malts, aromatic and grassy hops, dusty yeast esters, light milk chocolate and coffee. The taste is malty with a good dose of pine and bitterness undertones. Coffee and smoky notes detected on the finish. The mouthfeel is a tad thin, lively and smooth. A touch astringent as well. Overall a very nice porter with a bit more body could have been a palate killer.

Bottle in the beautiful surroundings of Denali Nat’l Park AK. Poured into my plastic cup black and with a thin quickly dying tan head. Little aroma. The beer drinks crisp and clean with a light texture. There is a slight woody bitterness but it doesn’t come with much more of a porter character.

Bottle. Pours clear dark brown with spare fizzy light brown diminishing head, spare lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (chocolate, coffee, roasted), light hops (grass, pine), average yeast (dough, leather) with notes of charcoal and cola. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness; nice roasted malt flavor. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation and a slightly bitter finish.

Bottle. Dark brown beer with a thin tan head. Light roast and toffee aroma with sweet malt and light chocolate. Chocolate and light roast flavor with toffee malt. Medium bodied. Toffee lingers with some sweetness and light roast.

Very dark brown in color. Mouthfeel was on the thin side, but not too bad. Soft and smoothly roasted (chocolate and coffee), sweet (sugared milk), and woody. Light hops. Bitterness in the finish complemented well. Pretty decent porter, but the texture seemed a little thin, and the flavors/aromas were rather mild.

20-Jan-08 (Draft: Humpy’s Alehouse in Anchorage, AK) Chocolaty, roasty and lightly smoky flavors dominate, with light hop flavor and bitterness adding complexity and subtle balance. Roast is lighter when the beer is sipped, but picks up in the finish. The beer is reasonably dry with just a touch of sweetness. On the palate, it’s medium in body and medium in carbonation, with a clean, dry mouthfeel from start to finish. In the very aromatic nose, chocolate, roast and toasty malts combine with a light hop aroma. Medium-dark brown with some translucence at the edges, and a small light-tan head fading to a think ring. Nothing flashy here, just a nice, solid porter.