Sea Dog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter

Brewed by Sea Dog Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: Porter
Topsham, Maine USA

12 oz bottle, via SoLan. Pours a clear very dark brown body under a one finger fizzy beige head that faded to a patchy film. Aroma is a mix of hazelnut extract, chocolate malt, light roast, and some vanilla. Flavor is dominated by the very "extract" tasting hazelnut. Some coffee, roast, and toasted malt rounds out the finish. Mouthfeel is thinnish and somewhat silky in texture with a little cloying sweetness emerging on the finish. Moderate fizzy forced carbonation. Another cheaply flavored Porter. Hazelnut beers really seem to be a hit or miss with me. I quite like Rogue’s offering but this wasn’t up to that same quality.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry - his bottle. Ruby-brown with a tiny an head. Nutty mocha aroma, a bit roasty - like a fake flavoured coffee. Thin, fizzy body. Flavour is a bit metallic and sour, with more artificial nut flavour. Really mediocre. I gotta wonder if we got an old/bad botle...

Nice dark brown coloured body-not opaque with a thin off-white head that fades fast. Aroma of hazlenuts (no surprise), peanuts, roasted malt, toffee and some subtle raisins. Light-bodied; Pale malt taste with a small amount of nuttyness. No sweetness & no other tastes at all. Aftertaste is bland-no signs of a porter, just a subtle sweetness & maltiness. Overall, not such a great beer-didn’t live up to the small hype I heard about it. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased for under $1 at Trader Joe’s in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia on 24-November-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

12oz bottle best before December 04 via my secret santa - Thanks Santa! - Pours deep brown with ruby highlights. Huge rocky tan head stays well and laces like a milkshake on the outside of the glass. Aroma of hazelnut, vanilla, light chocolate and caramel. Flavor is hazelnut, vanilla, coffee, a slight bit of chocolate and caramel. Very much like drinking hazelnut coffee. I got some hops on the finish but not too much. Palate is medium bodied and fairly airy. I love hazelnut so this one was a nice treat for me. I enjoyed it..

Huge nut/coffee aroma and taste. A different beer for sure, but I don't think that I could drink more than one.

My bottle does not have the Hazelnut part, so perhaps this is a different beer, but perhaps not.

This beer is incredibly carbonated, no make that over carbonated; it pours with a light brown, large bubbled, four-finger thick head. The beer is a deep brown, mostly black colored beer. The aroma is dry and toasty with a roasted grain note, yet it is also a bit sweet and fruity. Something seems a bit off as well, perhaps a bit of a vegetal note, but I could be imagining it.

The beer is light and frothy when it first hits my tongue. There is a light malt sweetness that intermingles quite well with a roasted grain note. There are ample notes of dark chocolate and some roasted coffee notes. The taste is quite nice; lots of rich flavors yet still light and drinkable, just like a good porter should be. Despite my misgivings with the carbonation and the aroma, I am quite pleased by this tasty beer.

Bottle from Systembolaget, Munkebäck ,Göteborg. Dark reddish brown with a rich beige head. Roasted and fudgy aroma, with a light touch of cigarette ashes. Would not have picked hazelnut in a blind tasting but there is some syrupy touch to it. Medium bodied and smooth. Good balance with a dry finish.

12 ounce bottle from Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, VA. Pours a very deep red color with a voluminous frothy head. Quite hard to pour, actually. Aroma is artificial hazelnuts with just a hint of roastiness. Taste is roasted malts, caramel and hazelnuts. The taste also comes across as artificial.