John Sleeman Presents Fine Porter

Brewed by Sleeman Brewing & Malting Co. (Sapporo)
Style: Porter
Guelph, Canada

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

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Originally reviewed Dec. 31, 2006: light tan head that was minimal. dark amber colour. slight hint of stale chocolate smell. first hit of bitter taste that fades to a weak coffee taste. low aftertaste. overall decent porter.

341ml bottle pours a pale amber brown color with a small white head which left only a few specks of lacing on the glass. Aroma is light roasted grains and caramel with some subtle hop notes. Taste is light roast bitterness with some caramel malty sweentess and a mild hop bitterness in the finish. Color and body are quite light for the style and carbonation is moderate. Nothing really special here.

Aroma is light and malty. Color is much lighter than you’d expect in a porter, more a reddish brown than brown/black. Limited head which disappeared in a minute or so. Taste is smooth and slightly coppery - reminds me more of a red or brown ale than a porter - much as the color suggests. Medium carbonation with a pleasant lingering malt aftertaste. I feel like this beer would rate better if it wasn’t pretending to be a porter.

Aroma is pleasant but a bit mild for a porter. Not quite black, show medium-dark brown when held up to light. Malt and some bitterness coming through in taste, hard to believe this is a porter. Meh.

A rating from an old notebook. Bottle. Dark brown with a thick tan head. Boring malty aroma with a bit of fruit. Medium body, odd sweetness leading to a sour finish. A bit of cigarette ash in there. Strange and quite unpleasant.

Bouteille 341 ml. 5,5%. Couleur brune foncée, mousse beige. Arôme de malt grillé, caramel. Goût de caramel, malt, un peu de chocolat, douce en bouche. Finale un peu sucrée, peu amère. Bonne

Originally came out November 2004 in a 12-pack, now available in a Sleeman mixed pack in Quebec. Worth re-rating it as I really enjoyed this one the first time around. Like all their beers, it is filtered to the max. Still, a nice dark ruby red-brown colour comes out of it. Its head is creamy, beige coloured, has good retention and gives patchy lacing. The nose is a nice balance between the burnt malt, the dark fruits and the mild hop. Refreshing crisp mouthfeel with a slight dry finish. Plum taste, prunes and raisins. I really enjoy the balance of the smoke from the burnt malt and the hop in the finish, that lingers into the aftertaste. Probably Sleeman’s best brew.

Bottle. Dark red-brown with a thin beige head with below average retention. Nothing much in the aroma, sugar, a hint of roasted malt and maybe some hops. I was surprised with the flavor though nothing extravagant, there is some chocolate and coffee with very moderate bitterness and lightly roasted malt. Very drinkable, the best offering from Sleeman I have had yet.

Pours pale-brown. Nose is cereal, like corn, but there is an interesting nutty, toasty. Nicely hopped. Very thin body, but I must admit that for a Sleeman beer, it is a not-too-bad porter! Although the beer still has the Sleeman skunky feeling, maybe the clear bottle or just cheap malts and yeast...

341 ml (clear) bottle from LCBO. Pours a dark, slightly reddish cola brown with very thin tan cap. Light aroma with some roast and coffee notes. Taste has a pleasant though understated roastiness and a little coffee-ish bitterness. Fine, fairly mild carbonation. Fine but not great.