Price: $5.99 for 25oz
Brewery: Captured by Porches, St. Helens, OR
Style: Porter
ABV: 6.3%
Color: Dark brown, almost black
Aroma: Roasted, Mild hops, toffee
Body: Full, thick feel in the mouth
Stomach Aspect: Medium. I've drank 19 ounces and I can down another 19 ounces, however I will have to skip dinner.
Head: Excellent. Poured to a nice two inch thick head, with a nice tan color, big loose bubbles, finishes down to a 1/4" head.
Head Retention: Good. The head leaves a nice ring after the previous drink.
Taste: Nutty, roasted, slight burnt/bitter taste, mild hoppy, little toffee flavor, with a nice malty finish.
Conclusion: This brew is from a local brewery right here in St. Helens. I've been to the owner/head brewer's house, met his wife and kids. Great family, great guy. A good friend of mine and his girlfriend do a lot of work for the owner. I've had several of Captured by porches beers and they've all been too hoppy, and or too light in body and color in my opinion. However, this is one damn fine brew. The head is excellent, it poured right out of the bottle into a thick, creamy, tan two inch thick head that dissolved into a quarter inch head while drinking (something most brews can not accomplish). The initial taste gives you the lovely flavor of roasted barley. Moving the brew down your tongue you get a nice flavor of Chocolate malt. As the brew goes to the back of your tongue you get a slight hint of toffee, with a quick hit of burnt/bitterness from Black Patent (I think). The beer has a silky, thick, malty feel to it and it sits nicely on the tongue, and in the mouth. The aroma of the beer is very delicate, but noticeable. The ratio of hops to dark malt is nicely blended, and with a wonderful body. This is by far (in my opinion) the best brew that Captured by Porches produces. I've had their Kolsch, their IPA, and while both of those beers are not bad by no means, this Porter is just that much better. I can't remember the last time I've had a commercial Porter this good. The beer is so good that it's like drinking a Homebrew. You get the same body aspect, the same flavors and aroma's. You get the love in the beer, that the brewer put into the recipe.
Public Aspect: Where to begin? One, it's a dark beer so most people are going to be put off by it. Second, Captured by porches is not as big brewery as most in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest so the name doesn't draw people in by brand recognition. However, if you can get your grubs on this beer do it! If you like dark beer you will not be disappointed by this beer. Plus, everything in the beer is made locally which gives the brew just that more of an edge over it's competitors. You may have to fight off your fellow dark beer drinkers (and maybe convert a couple more to the dark side) just to enjoy this brew.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Beer Review: Mango Weizen
Price: $3.29 for 22oz
Brewery: Trade Route Brewing Co. Pacific, WA
Style: Weizen
ABV: 5%
Color: light brown, kinda orange, cloudy
Aroma: Mango, hops, wheat
Body: light, very light
Stomach Aspect: none
Head: Poured nicely, but dissolved extremely fast.
Head Retention: none. Absolutely none.
Taste: Initial taste you are infused with the flavor of Mango. There is a slight wheat flavor about middle of the tongue. At the end of the tongue you get a little Hop flavor, but the Mango aroma quickly overpowers the Hops. There is some prickle to the brew across the tongue, not much, but a little.
Conclusion: The bottle says the beer was fermented with Mango, that is not a lie. The Mango is very aromatic, and at the same time overpowering in different phases of the brew. There is very little flavor to the beer, other than Mango. You get a slight hint of Wheat, but the Mango comes back and drowns out the Wheat flavor. Just when you swallow the brew the Hops make an appearance, but the Mango comes back like a bad night of Tacos. Did I mention the bottle says the beer was brewed with Mango? Did I mention that Mango is present at each phase of the brew? Did I mention there was Mango in the beer? Yeah, the Mango is THAT present in this brew. I'm not sure there is going to be a fruit beer that actually satisfies. For some reason this class (Fruit Beers) seems to has some weird recipes. I've had Blueberry Stouts, Raspberry Blondes, Blackberry Stouts and Porters, even Peach Ale. They all sound good, until you drink them. The balance of fruit to Hop to malt balance is so fine that I have yet to have a beer that actually fines that balance. Sadly, this one does not have the balance. It's not a bad beer, but it's like I'm drinking Mango juice, not a beer with Mango highlights. By the way, did I mention there was Mango in this brew?
Public Aspect: Bringing this brew to a get together may perk some interest. However, if a person doesn't like Mango they will not like this brew. If a person is looking for a traditional brew, this is not it. If they are looking for fruit juice that they can get a buzz on, this is it.
Brewery: Trade Route Brewing Co. Pacific, WA
Style: Weizen
ABV: 5%
Color: light brown, kinda orange, cloudy
Aroma: Mango, hops, wheat
Body: light, very light
Stomach Aspect: none
Head: Poured nicely, but dissolved extremely fast.
Head Retention: none. Absolutely none.
Taste: Initial taste you are infused with the flavor of Mango. There is a slight wheat flavor about middle of the tongue. At the end of the tongue you get a little Hop flavor, but the Mango aroma quickly overpowers the Hops. There is some prickle to the brew across the tongue, not much, but a little.
Conclusion: The bottle says the beer was fermented with Mango, that is not a lie. The Mango is very aromatic, and at the same time overpowering in different phases of the brew. There is very little flavor to the beer, other than Mango. You get a slight hint of Wheat, but the Mango comes back and drowns out the Wheat flavor. Just when you swallow the brew the Hops make an appearance, but the Mango comes back like a bad night of Tacos. Did I mention the bottle says the beer was brewed with Mango? Did I mention that Mango is present at each phase of the brew? Did I mention there was Mango in the beer? Yeah, the Mango is THAT present in this brew. I'm not sure there is going to be a fruit beer that actually satisfies. For some reason this class (Fruit Beers) seems to has some weird recipes. I've had Blueberry Stouts, Raspberry Blondes, Blackberry Stouts and Porters, even Peach Ale. They all sound good, until you drink them. The balance of fruit to Hop to malt balance is so fine that I have yet to have a beer that actually fines that balance. Sadly, this one does not have the balance. It's not a bad beer, but it's like I'm drinking Mango juice, not a beer with Mango highlights. By the way, did I mention there was Mango in this brew?
Public Aspect: Bringing this brew to a get together may perk some interest. However, if a person doesn't like Mango they will not like this brew. If a person is looking for a traditional brew, this is not it. If they are looking for fruit juice that they can get a buzz on, this is it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)