Sea Dog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter

12oz bottle. Translucent brown-red with a small light brown head. Earthy, nutty malt component and sugary hazelnut in the aroma. Chalky chocolate and toasty malt flavors dominate with an earthen, ruddy hop component. Residual hop bitterness with a coffee bean acidity in the finish, lingering hazelnut. Mouthfeel is a light medium, somewhat smooth.

Sea Dog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter is a dark brown to black ale with a creamy, blotchy, mossy beige head. It leaves great lacing. The aroma is of chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, biscuits and crackers. It is roasty and slightly sweet. The hops smell a little medicinal. It is medium-bodied and pretty smooth. It’s a little chewy and a little slick. It has a full dark roasty flavor. It starts with hazelnut and maybe vanilla, then it turns a bit salty and then bitter, like juniper. The flavor elements are all pretty independent. This is much better than the first time I rated it. That last bottle must’ve been skunked! [First rating: 7 Aug /2007] Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter is a deep solid brown ale with a hue that’s leaning toward aubergine. The head is tan in color, splotchy and lively. The retention is great. The aroma is very hard to miss: hazelnut and coffee with maybe something minty in there. It has a medium-light body with a dry, slightly numbing, finish. The flavor is not focused like the aroma. The coffee aroma doesn’t translate to a roasty flavor here. Diacetyl is present. The flavor is a little... barfy. There is a chemical off-flavor here that I can’t place, but can smell after I’ve tasted it. Is it skunked? A bad bottle? I’ve had this before and it was good. [Aroma: 7; Appearance: 4; Flavor: 4; Palate: 3; Overall: 9]

Bottle from BevMo. Pours dark brown in color. Sweet aroma. Hazelnut aroma, i think, not really familiar with hazelnut. Some caramel. Roasted toffee flavors with a lingering sweetness in the background. Very odd finish, very dry and bitter. It’s almost as if the flavor stop once you swallow. Decent.

Dark brown in appearance with minimal head although heavy lacings remain. strong taste of nuts and mild coffee. finish is of dark chocolate. look and taste are decieving as very minimal body which makes for an interesting beer and suitable for drinking a few in one sitting.

Short lived light brown head, also pouring brown. Aroma is predominantly hazelnut, go figure. Not an impressive porter in my book. I was hoping for more from this beer, but I’ll say it was worth the dollar I spent on it.

Pours with a brown color and not much head. Flavors and aromas are dominated by hazelnuts. Body is too light to support this flavor. Not really a porter maybe more of a nut brown. Not my favorite, pretty poor actually.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a deep brown with garnet highlights when held up to a light. The head is initially very deep at almost three fingers, but quickly dissipates to a thin film in a matter of minutes. The aroma is without question this beer’s best quality. Hazelnut, lightly roasted malt and coffee abound in the nose. The flavor, however, is a bit disappointing. The hazelnut and roasted malt have an almost burnt taste which overwhelms any other attributes. Dry finish. This beer was promising so much at the beginning and did not deliver at the finish.

Good sized ceamy light tan head of fine bubbles. Light carbonation. Wonderful aroma of hazelnut, sweet honey, freshly baked brownies and some vanilla. Color is a very dark brown. Kind of fizzy in the mouth with lots of flavor again. Hazelnut, light coffee, roasted grains, sweet malts and bit of dry bitterness. Finishes clean and roasty with a lingering weak coffee flavor. A surprisingly good brew.