Crystal Springs Doc’s American Porter

Brewed by Crystal Springs Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Boulder, Colorado USA

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is dark brown to black. Aroma is moderately malty (chocolate, caramel, roasted grain), trace hops (apricot), with a note of vanilla. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, moderately bitter. Light to medium body, watery/creamy texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. It’s certainly not bad, there’s nothing wrong with it, but...it doesn’t really stand out in any way. The usual suspects in the nose; chocolate, vanilla, a little bit of roast. Rather light-bodied for its size, and a bit watery. Sweetness lingers a bit longer than desired; some extra bitterness would help. Decent.

22 oz bottle. Pours a clear dark brown body with a rather large fizzy light brown head that slowly faded. It pours a little too active to give me a whole lot of confidence in this one. The nose is pretty decent, some chocolate and moderate hops with a bit of a burnt rubber note also. The flavor is a little heavy on the roast for the style, some bitter licorice, and some fairly heavy sweetness. This really isn’t my kind of Porter. I really don’t care for overly sweet Porters. Mouthfeel is a bit heavy and sticky with a little too much fizzy active carbonation. The finish on this one gets more and more acrid the longer it sits in the mouth. This is just one that I can’t get into.

Bomber poured a clear dark brown with a lingering ring of tan bubbles. Aromas of cocoa, coffee, light roastiness, light earthiness and a hint of licorice. Palate was light to medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of cocoa, coffee, light cola and a hint of smoke with a smooth lingering cocoa finish.

Bottle with Andrew. Pours a completely opaque dark brown with almost no off-white foam. Smells roasty, sweet and slightly sweaty with no body, like a black lager. Tastes very light with some chocolate and very slightly like coffee. Feels and tastes more like a black lager than a porter.

Bomber pours dark cola in color with large bubbly khaki head. Aroma dominated by sweet chocolate, with a slight nuttiness, vanilla, and roasted malts. Taste is very sweet all the way through with a thin palate, slight bitter on the finish. Too sweet for me.

Bottle @ home. Dark brown head with a big light tan head. Fairly hoppy, brown malty nose. More hoppy than most porter. Slightly nutty, cocoa porter flavor. Honestly it tastes like the bastard child of a hoppy brown ale and a porter. Well carbonated but a bit thin of a body. Slightly too hoppy also.

22oz bottle, courtesy of 3/4. Thanks, Mike! Pours a deep brown-cola color, somewhat hazy; creamy, fine-bubbled light-tan head with solid retention and lacing. Lots of chocolate in the aroma (very much chocolate-focused), with some light roast and nuttiness; no immediate show of alcohol. Medium to medium-full body; medium-light carbonation; a bit of vinous alcoholic notes show through, a slight warmth. Medium-high levels of milk chocolate and some darker cocoa notes; beyond this, some lighter roast and a prominent, though nondescript, mineral and earthy bitterness; a light fruitiness, plus a vinous quality from the alcohol; a bit too chocolate-centric for my liking, honestly, which gives it a slightly cloying quality and some unnecessary heft. Nothing "wrong" besides the balance of core notes. Lengthy finish of chocolate and light roast; overall the ending is on the sweet side.

Bomber - bottled on 12/5/10 - the date appears to be hand-written on the label - pours a dark brown with an apparent haze when held up to the light - fluffy tan head - rich aroma of chocolate and roast, roasted/toasted/mildly charred grains, vanilla, coffee - very full bodied and creamy - lightly bitter and acidic - moderate sweetness - roasted grains - fairly yeasty - vanilla - a bit of raisin - espresso finish - quite good.

Dark brown pour, very little light gets through, tan head with excellent retention that recedes to a thin film of tiny bubbles at the surface. Aroma of roasted grain, chocolate, a few drops of coffee, a somewhat metallic character. On the palate that metallic flavor is still there, medium-low carbonation, medium body, a bit oily on the finish. Not a big fan, unfortunately. Wanted to like this one - the brewer seems like a cool dude and he’s working on a super small scale. Maybe this is just a bad batch?

Bomber. Brown almost black with great head if you pour it a little violently it settles beautifully. Lot of roast and chocolate/vanilla action in nose, pretty typical porter aroma. Pretty up the middle in terms of flavor, but really tasty. Roasted chocolates all over the place, among other typical porter flavors. Water and oil.

Aroma is nutty with some mild coffee. Flavor is coffee with some malt and mild hops. Finish is bitter. Overall pretty nice.