Great Waters Pot Hole Porter

Brewed by Great Waters Brewing
Style: Porter
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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Date: 11/08/1997
Source: Brewfest, Real Ale Festival

roasted malt aroma, watery and sour

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 1/10; Flavor: 1/10; Palate: 1/10; Overall: 3/20
Rating: 1.1/5.0
Score: -/4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Mahogany with a cap of nice fine bubbles. This actually smells like an oatmeal stout. Toasty, buttery, warm brown sugar. Nice soft palate, but kind of clumsy chocolate flavor and a bit of stale smoke. Not bad, but also not stellar.

On cask, served at 52°F in an 8oz serving. Rich, chocolate and nutty, roasted coffee aroma with a hint of roasted oats. Dark, dark brown with ruby tints and a thick, off-white head filled with tiny little bubbles. Sweet chocolate with roasted barley and what I refer to as toasted sesame seeds in the flavor. Medium-light bodied, very soft carbination with a slightly dry finish. Reminds me of a lighter, sweet stout because of the roasted notes I taste.

Very thin bodied, especially for a porter, with a distinctly watered down feeling. Weird floral aftertaste that I don’t expect in the style. Not very satisfying.

Very dark, faint hint of red, absolutely no head. Nose has toffee, and something akin to bourbon, but it’s light in the smelling department. Molasses bitter, not any coffee or chocolate, just basically tastes like watered-down molasses. Watery, and not because of the cask, just not a good mouthfeel.

Cask. Very faint aroma, but somehow pleasant. Hint of sweet roasted malt. Cascading opaque body as one would expect from a cask Porter. Average sized tan head. I really didn’t like the color of the head. It wasn’t quite tan, and it wasn’t quite a smooth creamy off-white like in a Guinness. It was dirty looking. Some lace. Not bad, not great. I warmed up to it a little bit at mid glass. Some sweetness.

In the cask at the Brewpub. Very black with a brown head. In fact, a phenomenal head. This was a good-looking beer. I could not get much of an aroma out of this one. Surprising taste like chocolate mint. Smooth going down, but a sour aftertaste. Slightly disapointing for a cask-conditioned ale.

Guinness wannabe mugshot. Fearless head standing tall throughout all opposition. No aroma, but body is creamy without overburdening or stickiness. Finish is tannic, oaky, and creamy.

Appearance: deep, dark brown, with a fuzzy, light tan head. Aroma: smooth, mellow, creamy, with nutty hints. Taste: mild and mellow, medium bodied, with a sweetness in the finish. Missing a lot of flavors I yearn for in a good porter, actually, not much in the coffee’n’cocoa department, lacks a fullness I prefer. Drinks down nice enough, but in my book, just passable as a porter. Afterthought: I look at the notes from my St. Paul comrades and clearly we tasted different beers, for they tasted the things I missed. Perhaps I owe it to Great Waters to try this again, next time. After-after-thought: I’m all for alliteration, but why did they name it after something you like to avoid, that’s what I wonder...

Cask sample. Very dark brown, with a bit of gold at the edge. Chocolate-caramel nose, hints of vanilla. Smooth, vinous, moderately sweet body with a bit of robustness to finish, but far too watery in the mouth.