Foothills Barrel Aged Peoples Porter

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Porter
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

LCBS 2010. Growler. Dark brown pour, light brown head. Roasty malts, chocolate, heath bar, vanilla, sweet bourbon, raisins, dates in the nose. Flavor is roasty and loaded with nice sweet bourbon filled chocolate cordials. Really awesome stuff.

Is it strange that a beer should remind me of childhood? Sniffing Foothills Barrel-Aged People’s Porter was like opening an old oak toy chest, and sipping it, the warm vanilla flavor was reminiscent of a cream soda, my father’s favorite soda to buy for family cookouts. It was black, like the People’s Porter, with a frothy off-white head. It had a very drinkable body with little carbonation and of course the roasty chocolately flavors you would expect. Also it’s possible that this beer might have picked up a little more on the ABV than the 1% guesstimate from the barrel because I was feeling a little light in the head after sampling it--then again, it could have been the nostalgia...

Growler fill from CBX. Beer pours straight black with a tannish head that faded quickly. Smells stongly of bourbon. Taste is balanced between malt and bourbon and some vanilla. Overall a delicious beer.

UPDATED: SEP 4, 2010
Name: People’s Porter, BA
Date: January 10, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, HMoG
Appearance: black, fine beige head, bits of lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon and vanilla aroma, lots of vanilla
Flavor: rich chocolate and bourbon flavor, vanilla and caramel sweetness brings out the rich chocolate and turns it into a bourbon candy, light bitterness comes in with the oak to balance it

Name: People’s Porter, BA
Date: January 31, 2009
Mode: cask
Source: acat beerfest
Score: 3.8
a bit more subdued on cask with a restrained sweetness preventing some of the other characters from coming out a s strong,

Name: People’s Porter, BA
Date: February 07, 2009
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
better than sex, sexual chocolate that is

Name: People’s Porter, BA
Date: August 27, 2010
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
picking up a nice bit of barrel tartness that works really well with the fruity esters and chocolate malt,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.3/5.0
Drinkability: 10/10
Score: **** /4

Growler provided by, I believe, cardsfan1 at the HMoG at the Brick Store. He mentioned this was aged in Pappy Van Winkle 23yr barrels. Pours almost completely black with only hints of mahogany coming through at the edges. The head was short-lived, tan and left decent lacing. The aroma is very well-balanced for a barrel-aged beer with the bourbon present initially in the nose. Pretty quickly the chocolate sweetness and dark malts come through and hints of vanilla as well. The taste is just as balanced with the bourbon blending almost perfectly with the chocolate. The malt backbone is definitely noticeable and doesn’t let the bourbon dominate completely. Perfectly balanced, which I can’t often say about bourbon barrel beers. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light for a bourbon beer and with decent carbonation - very smooth overall. Well, this one just blew me away. Having never had the normal Peoples Porter, I don’t exactly know what to compare it to. What I do know is that this is a fantastic beer and one of the top 2 beers I tried at the HMoG. Outstanding.

5/22/11. Growler courtesy mlunger12. Huge BA aroma of fudge, bourbon, buttery coconut, vanilla, and a touch of burn. Nice flavor that encompasses coffee, roast, chocolate, and surprisingly balanced BA characteristics. Quite nice!

Served from tap at the brewpub into a Foothills shaker. This was the first glass poured off a freshly tapped keg with freshly cleaned lines. Pours dark dark brown almost black with a two finger tan head that subsides to one finger slowly. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of malt, spices, and chocolate. The flavor was of cream, spices, malt, and a subtle red wine spice. It had a medium feel on the palate with low carbonation. Overall this was much nicer on tap than out of the growler I had consumed the night prior to having this one. It is a must try if you get the chance.

On tap from Sam’s at the Baltic Porter release party. Pours dark brown with creamy looking light tan head. Body looks and feels light and silky. Nose is creamy vanilla, wood, and chocolate. Bourbon isn’t too boozy and mixes well so that none of the flavors dominate... really well balanced. Not too sweet or strong on the taste as well. Really nice.