Leopold Brothers Porter

Draft at the brewery. Another beer that screams kit. Typical light roast, light chocolate, faint greenish malt base with some twang in the nose. Pallid flavor, boring, typical brewpub porter with faint notes of stale coffee and some chewiness that almost resembles honey. Pretty boring overall.

Original Rate: Jan 18 2006. 7/3/7/3/16. Actually enjoyed this brew on tap at the brewpub. Pours dark brown, with a soapy thin head of coffee and cream. Aroma of roasted chestnuts and a fresh cup of coffee. Flavor is terse, but sharp and drinkable. Has more coffee flavors and good solid bite. Heavy body lends depth and flavor. Sugars persist across the tongue. Finish is oaky and coffee dry. Not bad.

Rerate: Was I high when I had this before? This time it barely resembles a porter. Aroma is of salt. Pours a bland deep brown. Flavor is an over-carbonated, lightly infected grain husks. There’s some dry sugars in there, but this is rough. Finishes watery and unclean. I knew I had to be wrong about this beer.

Sampled at the Labor Day gathering. Black color with a thin head. Smell is a sour hoppy and slightly roasted. Flavor is sour, malt and not pleasant. Drain pour on this one, like a heafty in the malt cantillon.

Extremely carbonated from the bottle, bordering on explosive. Tastes like a coffee spill was wiped up with a dish rag and wrung into a vat of all-purpose lemon scented cleaner. Perhaps the brothers spilled Mop & Glow into this batch without noticing? In any case it’s flat out nasty. What to do with the other 5 bottles? Maybe I’ll find out if it makes a better toilet cleaner than a beverage.... Yuk.

Pours a robust blackish brown with a thin light tan head. Aroma is lightly sweet and roasty with some sour acidity. Starts tart and chocolatey turning more acidic toward a thin citric fruity finish. For the last time, if it’s supposed to be dark and sweet, where are these sour notes coming from?