Amnesia Slow Train Porter

Brewed by Amnesia Brewing
Style: Porter
Portland, Oregon USA

Date: September 22, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewery
Appearance: black, fine tan head, sheets of drippy lace
Aroma: rich chocolate aroma, touch of caramel sweetness enrichens the chocolate, light dry chocolate character
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, dry chocolate, only a hint of caramel sweetness, almost powdery
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+ /4

On tap at Bailey’s Taproom in Portland, OR. Colour... very dark brown with a thick khaki head. Nose... hoppy with some roasty malt. Palate... moderate hops, tangy, licorice, earth, semi-dry mouthfeel and finish.

Tap @ Amnesia... Poured dark brown with a beige head. Rich malt and cocoa on the nose. Light body with hops and dark malts. Pretty standard, porter wise. Chalky dark malts and a sweet roasted finish. Very earthy and a noticeable wood-like character.

I only had a taste of it so far. Truly decent porter, but decided to go with something else.

Had on tap at Amnesia brewery. Looks like dirty brown motor oil with a very creamy thin head. Taste of coffee caramel and chocolate. Very nice porter. One of the best regular porter’s that I have had.

Pint – Horse Brass Pub - Portland, OR
Aroma: Dark malt aroma with light chocolate aroma.
Appearance: Dark Brown in color, hazy with a thin head.
Flavor: A very ice porter this was thick with flavor. This was alike a cookie in my opinion it was so full of flavor. It had so much malt very little hops came through. This was good but needed a little work.
Palate: Dry Porter cookie finish, with a Good Mouthfeel.
Overall: A very nice porter that had too much malt added and very little other was coming through. I liked it but would have liked more character to come through.

Draft at Brouwer’s. It’s kind of a sad day, marking down this beer, because there’s nothing really wrong with it. In every way that it falls short of greatness, or just noteworthy aboveaverageness, it falls short due to a lack of decisiveness (or maybe imagination) in the recipe. This is what happens when you don’t make that one or two extra batches on the pilot system, because you’re happy to get a good clean house version of the style out there. What happens? Nothing bad. Nothing much at all, unfortunately. Pours nearly black with a light frosting of creamy tan goodness. Mild, brown-bread-y, slightly doughy nose. Creamy medium body. Well-placed carb. This beer looks and feels great, and has a tidy little aftertaste, maybe a little earthy in a nice way. But from the nose to the mid-palate, it doesn’t really go roasty, it doesn’t go chocolatey, it doesn’t get all crazy Avery New Worldish and get hoppy bitter, and it doesn’t bring up all of those systems and tie them off with a bow like Black Butte. It doesn’t even give you that old veddy english chalk and sour milk business for your trouble. It just tastes, and smells, like undercooked brown bread. I am a frillion percent certain that Amnesia can rock a house porter a thousand times harder than this, and that if they tried this beer blind, they’d find it rather dull. Rename this the brown ale, everyone will think it’s a triumph, and go back to the paddle for another porter with some swagger to it. Sorry, lads. But, actually, that brown ale idea--seriously, that might work.

Black-chocolate body with light chocolate cream upper layer. Chocolatey and black barley and a light roastiness fill the nose. Relatively hoppy flavor with chocolate roastiness. Moderate bitterness. Oreo on the finish. Pleasant, hoppy chocolate porter.