Summit Great Northern Porter

Brewed by Summit Brewing Company
Style: Porter
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Bottle at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Thinnish chocolate brown color with a grey skin. A warm and heavy aroma of melted chocolate and a fatty pot roast. A little milky. Not a lot happening in the mouth. Acrid, taut espresso bitterness is tempered too little by a licorice and sarsaparilla sweetness. Earth and bark - almost a hoppy sort of dryness. A mouthful of latex and soil in a loose, empty palate. Burnt and black malt permeates. Not enough body, and not a lot going right in general.

Had one of these for dessert with some white chocolate covered coffee beans. Excellent combo of smooth and rich flavors. I need to try more porters!

Bottle, Pours a very dark brown with a nice and fluffy tan head. Nice initial sweetness, hops are slightly metallic, some nice roasted notes, Lighter palate makes it drinkable, plenty of b-vitamins, Maybe a llittle less hops, a touch more chocolate sweetness and this brew could be a killer. But its good and tasty, ill say that.

Soft Aroma of burnt Malt,black coffee,hint of chocolate. Poured black, with small, fizzy tan head that dissapated very quickly. Left with almost no cap, very light, light lacing. The taste however, was very robust! Taste of chocolate, lots of black coffee and then a beautiful roasted malt followed by a dark chocolate and then slight burnt malt flavor. A heavy body, a thick oily texture, very flat carbonation, which was pleasing with such a thick body, has a long dark chocolate/burnt malt finish that is bitter. A ok Porter I would drink again. Served in a Pint.

Bottle. A heavy dark porter. A smokey almost BBQ aroma with a tasty roasted malt flavor. A more hoppier porter.

On tap at the brewery. Possibly my favourite of the Summit beers and, having tried most of them as smaller samples at the brewer, probably the one I’d go for pint of first. In fact, I think it would be pretty good for an extended session. The relatively restrained alcohol level and the distinct hoppy bitterness make for a very quaffable beer, without sacrificing the burnt roasty malt backbone and touches of chocolate/liquorice that show up in the flavour profile. Some might feel that the mouthfeel is rather light for a porter but I think that works in its favour as a drinking beer, as opposed to some of the thicker, quasi-stout styled porters that seem to be more prevalent in the US. The elements seemed nicely in harmony to me. Deep brown colour, with a thin, but lasting beige head.

Sample from tap at the brewery. Pours dark brown with a light brown head. Aroma is coffee and roasted malt. Flavour is soft malty, roasted, and coffee which goes into the finish with a lovely bitterness.

12 oz. bottle. Deep dark brown, thick foamy head with lacing. Coffee, roasted malt aroma. Thick chewy mouthfeel. Flavors are coffee upfront, grains, alcohol and piney bitterness. Lasting bitter aftertaste is good, but also some chalky dark chocolate textures in the aftertaste.