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I've had some ups and downs recently with some pretty lousy or mediocre beverages. I think I've wandered a bit too far out of my lane, and I need to re-embrace my affection for beer. A cocoa porter should get me there. I love a good porter, and I love a chocolate stout. I don't recall ever having a chocolate porter before (yet I have), but I can't imagine this won't go well. Bring it, Kentucky!
It's appropriately dark brown to the point of utter blackness. The off white head is very, very reluctant to emerge, and that is par for the course with a barrel aged beer. What comes out grips the sides like there is something wrong with the center of the beer. The aroma is deliciously sweet cocoa nibs and a little hint of earth, but man this smells great.
First sip is like a Hershey's syrup-flavored drink that already had earthy malt and pretty minimal carbonation in it. The cocoa has room to stretch its legs, as all the other flavors have ceded ground to it and a curious wateriness that kind of drops the beverage from a full mouthfeel to a partial one. It has a good flavor, but the porter is letting the cocoa down where a milk stout would not.
Tip-in is mild carbonation tingle above cocoa nibs and an accompanying bitterness. The bittersweet chocolate is scrumptious as it gets thick in the middle with earth and very, very light coffee. The finish is sweet cocoa nibs again, and they hang on for the trail off to leave deliciousness in their wake.
Bottom Line: It's what it says it is, and it is very good.
4.75/5
