Ale Asylum Contorter Porter

Brewed by Ale Asylum
Style: Porter
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Enjoyed on tap as part of a sampler at Ale Asylum in Madison, WI. Appearance is a murky dark brown with thin tan head. Aroma is very rich, huge chocolate notes, touch of nutmeg perhaps. Taste is somewhat like butterfinger, chocolate, hazelnut, peanut, very very good. This was hands down the best of the sampler.

Bottle bought is Wisconsin. Pours black, with a thickish oily look. Bold chocolate and roast aromas. I got more chocolate than coffee in flavour. A good example of a solid American porter. Good drinkability, and way to end the meal.

Pours ebony into the glass with a thick creamy brown foam on top. Nose is molasses and chocolate. Nice and creamy on the palate, the taste is full of coffee, chocolate and chicory. Nice dry finish. An exemplary porter-true to the style and very tasty. Pairs well with pastrami and rye.

Bottle poured into a globe. A - Pours deep brown, bordering on black, with a thin film of off-white head, dissipating down to next to nothing, leaving light sheets of lacing down the glass. S - Smells of dark chocolate malt, coffee, chocolate, and toffee. It has an overall earthy sweetness with a bit of smokiness coming thru as it warms up to room temperature. Good not great. T - This one has a very thin, watery, feel right off the bat. Dark chocolate malt mixes with some dulled coffee, chocolate, and toffee to form a flavorful core but the feel really hurts it throughout. Finish is quite thin with some lingering malty sweetness. Not bad but the feel really brings it down. M - Heavy body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Thin, watery, feel with some lingering sweet dark roast in the finish. D - Decent stuff. I have had better but it was still pretty solid. I just wish it wasn’t so watery. I really think I would have liked this one a lot more.

bottle pour. comes out of the bottle a deep brown. medium tan head. minimal retention and lacing. sweet aroma of roasted malts, caramel, bitter chocolate and coffee. thinner beer than it would appear but there’s a lot going on here. roasted coffee flavors up front with a creamy bitter finish. real nice porter from the boys at ale asylum!

6oz sample. Stained-glass brown-red-black. Steady beige head. A roasty session porter. Minimal, subtle hopping. A tad thin. Chocolate, vanilla tones. Nice.

Taster tap at the brewery. Just like the description says, this is a middle of the road beer in terms of body, and it’s not too bold taste wise. It’s a traditional porter, real good actually, but not as memorable as most other Ale Asylum varieties I’ve tried. They’ve set the bar high for themselves.

Thanks to Steve for the bottle. A: The beer pours almost black in color with a finger of off-white head. S: A nice roasted malt aroma to this one. Some sweet toffee and molasses. There is some dark chocolate and even a bit of sweeter milk chocolate. Maybe a little vanilla. T: Slightly watery, but otherwise good. Lots of dark chocolate and cocoa with plenty of roasted malt. As with the aroma, there is some subtle vanilla character to it, too. M: On the lighter side of medium with medium carbonation. O: A nice aroma to this and a fairly good flavor too, just a bit watery.

Tap at the brewpub. Extremely dark brown/black pour with a frothy off-white head. Mild dark chocolate aroma. Smooth, semi-light to medium palate. Silky smooth, soft chocolate flavor. Delicate. Very good!

12 oz. Deep ebony with a lasting foam. Nose is cocoa, coffee and caramel. Flavor is chocolate, espresso, graham cracker and caramel. Light-medium body is smoothly carbonated and easily drinkable.