The Tap Charlies Porter

The Porter from The Tap is a fairly impressive offering, as it provides a very drinkable beer in a typically heavier category. It pours a dark, murky, dark chocolate color with a medium brown, fizzy head. Excellent lacing. Aroma is of sweet malts with a distinct presence of milk chocolate. Very aromatic. This, however, is where the switcharoo occurs. Initial taste is moderately bitter, with a dark chocolate, bitter taste, ramping up to a heavy bitter finish with sour notes and a long duration. Lightly carbonated, it is medium bodied, but light for the style. It is creamy, but creamy in the way that skim milk is creamy. Moreso than water, but clearly not whole milk, which make this a very drinkable porter. Reviewed on January 9th, 2007

on tap-pours a thick creamy brown head and black color. Aroma is coffee-dark malt. Taste is coffee-dark malt, then hops bitterness, acidic.

Typical porter brown black with a slight head. Aroma of coffee, and uh-oh, broccoli hops. Yeast and green hop flavor. Yuck! The hops probably really aren’t all that pronounced here, but unfortunately this happens to be a varietal that I apparently despise. Run across this flavor before, not my bag at all. Thanks to Maniac for the opportunity to sample at the 4th Richmond Gathering, growler. This beer isn’t nearly as bad as my rating indicates, it unfortunately hit a flavor profile I can’t stand.

Thanks to Maniac for his unfailing searching for more ratings for me! This aroma definitely had a bit of an odeur of sour milk, also lots of chocolate malt and coffee. Opaque brown body, you know how we do, playa. The flavour is mostly coffee.

Growler, from The Tap. Dark black body with a small creamy brown head. Sweet roasted malt and chocolate aroma. Dark chocolate flavor with some strong bitter, and some sweet coffee flavor.

Draught pint at Redbones on 9/8/06.
Very dark, nearly-opaque black/brown body has a light-tan head perched atop it. Very well-retained and lacing quite profusely.
Buckets of chocolate malt are manifested in the nose, which has a good deal of roasted bitterness. Some nuts, soy, a hint of vanilla bean and molasses, it all makes for quite a complex aroma. The base malt sweetness, however, is full and thick, allowing for the roasty/ashy/acrid notes to take their aggression out on the sweet malts and not on your nose. Hop apparency is very low, maybe a touch of leafiness thrown in for good measure, but it’s difficult to discern amidst the malts, which this beer certainly focuses on. No alcohol in the nose. Medium-high to high strength of aroma.
Where the nose has the benefit of clearing itself in the smoke-free air of Redbones, the palate is not so fortunate. Though it begins strongly enough, by the end of the glass, the palate is near beat-to-death by the huge tar-like roastiness that hangs on the finish. The chewy, thick, fudge-like-consistency of the malts certainly helps balance this sensation, and the carbonation is appropriate, delivering a lightly brisk wave of respite, but in the end, the bitterness just builds too heavily (for me anyways). Still, it’s wonderfully brewed and probably wouldnt bother most dark-beer lovers. The lack of hop flavor certainly goes a long way as well towards helping keep balance. Some notes of hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate graham crackers and creamy vanilla all help add complexity. Tone down the malt bitterness (near astringency) about 33% and this would be world-class stuff. Lovely texture, unfiltered and all. No alcohol apparent in flavor.