She's a dark beverage. It's nearly black, but it has a hint of blood red around the edges where the light manages to get through. The head is very small, and it dissipates to a simple ring around the edges. The aroma seems to me to be of sweet malt more than anything else. There is possibly kind of a berry hint in there with it. I'd also say there is a coffee and chocolate mix in there. It's pretty darn complex.
First sip is pretty good. It's sweeter than I expected, as the chocolate malt gives it a very sharp sweetness, but I can't help but think that there is a kind of cherry pie filling flavor in there with it. The smokey roasted taste kind of rounds things out.
Let's try a full swig...
It starts sweet again, and then it thins out. It's a pretty good lite chocolate right after the initial sweetness wears off. Once the sip starts to wrap up, a strange tartness hits in stark contrast to the rest of the beer. It doesn't seem like it belongs with the rest of the beer, and I don't know what exactly is causing it. It's a little off-putting for a porter that was pretty good right from the start.
Something tells me this won't get better as it warms up, so I'm going to bite the bullet and drink the rest of it right now. <big swig> Yup, that finish is really the only downside to this beer. I like the smokey taste after the aftertaste (does that make it a finishfinish?) and it satisfies as an all-around beer. It's good, but it's not great.
2.75/5
