Sierra Nevada Porter
January 9, 2007 – 11:51 pm
The Sierra Nevada porter poured an unsurprising deep, dark brown that was nearly opaque. There was no noticeable head on this beer.
The only word I can use to describe the taste is “bitter”. It’s not the type of bitterness that blows your mind, but the hops in this beer totally mask any of the pleasant coffe, chocolate, or nutty tastes you would expect from a roasted malt. The aroma was mostly neutral, which was a little disappointing. But the beer was heavy bodied, which I appreciate in the darker beers. A lot of the darker beers are surprisingly light in body, and it’s nice to find one with the mouthfeel of this particular porter.
I got the impression Sierra Nevada was staking their claim on the more bitter end of the porter style. I’m sure many people can get excited about this; I’m not one of them. I by no means disliked this beer. But I have had plenty of porters that outperform this offering from Sierra Nevada, with the Stone Smoked Porter being the best of the bunch.