As I write this, it is February 2024. I have not had a porter since August of last year. I have no idea why. I am firmly of the opinion that few beers can really capture the soul like a well sorted porter. And yet, I find myself drinking more IPAs. Is that just because IPAs proliferate the market? Is that because I really like IPAs? Well, I pick up porters when I see them, and it clearly has been a while since I saw a porter that I hadn't already tried. Heck, in all of 2023, I only had three porters. Aside from the absolutely abysmal one from Yazoo, the remaining two (DuClaw and Revolution) were very good. The revolution scraped as close is they could get to getting a perfect five out of five without quite getting there.
The beer is a pleasing mahogany red, and holding it up to the light lets you see directly through the center. If you don't hold up the light, you might be convinced that this was brown or black. There isn't much had to start with, and what head remains clings to the sides of the glass as tiny little bubbles. The aroma is dark fruit, wood, and brown sugar. There's actually quite a strong aroma of the yeast coming through, and it smells like a derivation something that was originally Belgian.
First sip is creamy bitterness with coffee, chocolate, and scorched wood. I am on record as saying I dislike coffee in my beer, and I don't like it here, but everyone should take note of how you can use coffee taste from the malt unobtrusively. It is managing to compliment the other flavors and bring an adult level of bitterness without overwhelming anything.
Tip-in is gentle carbonation caress with smoke and wood over raisins. The middle turns almost boozy (which is unexpected for a 5.5% ABV beer) with the coffee and chocolate joining the stroll. The finish is bitter chocolate and coffee that heads into the trail off with that yeast not to be tasted again.
Bottom Line: Pretty good.
3.25/5