4.9 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 20/20
Best porter I’ve ever had. Perfect smokey taste. The chocolate, coffee, and caramel flavors blend together perfectly. Hill Farmstead may be in the middle of nowhere VT but if you like porters its worth the drive.
4.8 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
UPDATED: MAY 31, 2012 My Bottom Line:
Raisins, molasses and dark chocolate thrive in this sumptuous Robust Porter, effortlessly moving into a levelled bitterness of resinous hops and roasted malts. I cannot imagine a better Robust Porter.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam covers the brown-edged black, lacing nicely.
-The mouthfeel is chewy, crunchy and nourishing, yet lets itself be drunk easily.
-Caramel sweetness and resinous hop bitterness are well balanced in the finish.
-The malt flavors are truly tantalizing. This is as complex as it is satisfying for dark beer lovers. They also linger languorously in the finish. Wow.
Many bottles (weeee!!) and on tap at Hill Farmstead and at the Siboire.
4.8 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
This really flirts with perfection - a clean and focused strong porter. Strong chocolate and coffee. Rich and bold... big shout out to joet for orchestrating an excellent labor day, and the norbay crew for rocking out
4.8 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
Growler poured into my Hill Farmstead glass... Pours a dark brown, almost black with a nice medium tan head. Good carbonation, retention is nice, no lacing... Aroma is outstanding, the epitome of what a porter should smell like, perfect coffee, a hint of alcohol, and dark fruits, simply perfect... The taste is equally perfect. Only thing that I wish it had was smoke to come to close to the Captain Lawrence Imperial Smoked porter. Roasted coffee with hints of chocolate, a slightly bitter finish. Did I say perfect?
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
Poured from a growler on multiple occasions. Deep, rich brown/black in color with tan head that laces nicely. Finish is slightly malty and roasty. My favorite of all the HFB offerings. Its balance of subtle coffee, chocolate and roastiness makes for an amazing experience.
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Deep, dark pour. Nice brown head. Rich chocolate fudge, some good hops, roast, coffee aroma. Flavor is full and rich. Decadent yet still balanced. Hops and roast just are amazing in this brew. Thanks to the guys at my birthday tasting for this gem.
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
5 oz flight draft. Pours a maroon blackish-brown with a spotty, somewhat lacy, white head. Aroma of fresh dark wheat, vanilla, soft, mild coffee beans, with roasty, woody, earthy notes that border on sweet mustiness. Slight hints of anise and pepper. Full smoky, malty, satin richness with dark candied sugar and molassess notes in the modestly bitter finish. Excellent porter. Best I’ve ever had.
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
Bottle. Thick dark brown beer with a brown head. Big roasted malt nose. Lots of coffee and a hint of chocolate. Tastes like a rich hand made chocolate pudding. You can almost feel the chocolate bits in your teeth. A rich delicious beer. And it has alcohol too! Every sip tastes better and better.
4.5 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bottle. Aroma has notes of coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, citrus hops and toast. Very nice nose. Pitch black with an average light tan frothy head that really wanted to stick around and left good lace. Flavor is medium sweet and medium/heavy bitter. Palate is full bodied and oily soft with a medium finish. Overall a real surprise. Easily the one of, if not the, best porter that I’ve had. Great roasted nose with noticeable hops, gorgeous looking beer, balanced taste and a rich full body. Fantastic beer! Loved it.
4.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
UPDATED: APR 10, 2012 On tap at Hill Farmsteads first anniversary celebration. One of the best porters ever. Awesome balance of chocolate, cocoa nib, coffee, and roast, all in the perfect proportions. Thick rich palate with an awesome roasty finish. An example setter for the style, and what all other porters should try to emulate.
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