Buckerfields Swans Coconut Porter

Brewed by Swans Hotel (Buckerfield Brewery)
Style: Porter
Victoria, Canada

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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I’m usually partial to coconut but this is more like processed coconut flakes than real coconut. It’s an idea that could work with fresh coconut water but here it doesn’t - the coconut just overtakes the badly brewed porter. Every beer they have tastes the same with minor adjustments. Getting near unpalatable. On tap at brewpub - this was the ’brewer’s choice.’

On tap. Pours a deep dark red/black with light head. Aromas of coconut and light roasted malts. Tastes like a coconut chocolate bar. Neat.

650ml bottle pours dark brown color with a finger and a half of off-white head that leaves a thin spotted lacing on the glass. Aroma is mild coconut with some roasted barley and mild chocolate. Taste is roasted barley and mild hop bitterness with some chocolate and caramel malty sweetness and just enough coconut to be noticeable. A pretty nicely done porter style brew, only drawback is that it is a little thin in body and light on the carbonation.

If I didn’t know there was coconut in here I never would have guessed it. While drinking it however I get the same mouthfeel of coconut and can feel it in the back... but I wonder how much of that is psychosomatic? It smells pretty bad, yes I understand it’s coconut but it smells like fusel alcohols. Goes down fine, though. It’s a robust porter that hits the front of my tongue with the acridness and the back of my tongue with the roastedness... and exceptionally, settles right there in the middle, which I guess is the coconut asserting its noble self. Pretty good, deserving of a 3+ since the taste is of course the most important part, slightly ahead of aroma. ;-)

pours coffee brown, minimal quickly dissipating head, thin layer of retentino, micro CO2, lots of average-speed moving CO2 streams, sticky lacing. Light roasted coffee on the nose. Aggressive 5/10-sweetness level up front, mix of creamy/fizzy texture, rush of lightly roasted coffee, slighty coconut nuttiness, prune/fig fruitiness, and finishes slightly sour, off-dry, and 3/10-bitterness. Medium complexity, medium depth, okay carry, okay transitions, good drinkability. Slighlty watery overall, but drinkable and decent.

Bouteille 650 ml. 5.5%. Vancouver. Couleur brune, beige, mousse beige. Arôme de malt, espresso et café. En bouche, chocolat au lait, café....je ne goûte pas vraiment le coconut. Finale en café. Bonne.

Aroma of some sweetness, slight roast, toasted notes from coconut. Pours opaque black with a small off-white head. Flavour is up front with coconut and sweetness. Toffee notes with chocolate towards the back. Coconut flavour stronger than other flavours. Finishes dry with coconut flavour lingering.

Cask at Alibi Room, Vancouver
Dark brown color; almost no head. Very nice aroma, mildly roasted malts, chocolate, a bit fruity too; new leather, very light phenol. Smooth mouthfeel, good mild chocolate flavor; there is something more, maybe the coconut, subdued but nice, and some coffee; the final is drier; correct bitterness, with a fairly good hopping. Very good session beer.

I’m an avid disliker of coconut flavoured products of all types, and yet when presented with a coconut-flavoured beer my masochistic side jumps to the fore and demands to know what it could possibly taste like. Has a decent black body and barely any head. The aroma is all subdued barley. The flavour - well, there’s the coconut, almost entirely coconut, with some vague porter notes in the back. It seems well balanced, and the coconut isn’t as awful as I would have expected; the chocolate-coffee barley notes and the coconut tend to work all right together, and I find it drinkable, even as an avowed hater of coconut.

Enjoyed on tap at the hotel-brewery. Dark brown, medium brown head. Chocolate, husky grains, and light coconut aroma. Chocolate, bitter hard roast, and earthy coconut in equal proportions create a terrific balance on the palate. Medium-bodied, smooth mouthfeel. Really nice.