Southern Tier Raspberry Porter

Draught tulip at Sunset Grill on 11/10/07
Deep burgundy tinted brown-black body shows just a slight hint of haze, but is mostly clear on the edges. Beige-pink tinted white head is 2 fingers high and slowly recedes to cover, leaving little lacing.
Very fruity nose, nonetheless divulges a fair amount of dry chocolate/cocoa and some nips of sweet fudge on the end. The raspberries seem tastefully (authentically) done, if rather sweet and sugary. Some piquant, lightly tart notes from the raspberry acids attempt to strike a balance with the sweet malt sugars that steadily emerge with warming, but it seems a little too uneven, on account of the powdery/dry cocoa notes, burnt dark malts, thickly sweet pale/caramel malt interaction and juicy-sweet raspberries. I suppose it just hasnt had enough time to develop any cohesion. Medium to medium-high strength of aroma, no flaws or alcohol noted.
Heavily sweet, fruity raspberries almost shock the palate up front, while sweet caramel-chocolate notes provide most of the body and flavor. Some dryness ensues on the finish, thanks to dry chocolate malt notes and some cocoa-like flavors. With warming, a moderately astringent note seems to set in, probably the darker malts and cuts through the palate on the finish, disturbing the mouthfeel. Huskiness/graininess is quite present from the start, despite the high amount of sugars and thoroughly confuses the palate (it’s a very sweet, fruity beer, with a dry, grainy mouthfeel, and that just dosent work). Notes of vanillin and raspberry acids linger on, with light touches of cocoa. No alcohol notes, flaws.

Man.. I was looking forward to this one when I heard Raspberry Porter.. but it didn’t pan out the way I had hoped. Bottle. Poured clear, raspberry-ey medium brown with a very short-lived beige head. The aroma picked up raspberries first and foremost (at least it was fresh fruit).. dry sweeter chocolates play a lesser part, and mesh rather well together (although this wasn’t much of a porter). The flavor was driven by raspberry seeds that left a grainy, kind of scratchy feel on the finish.. chocolate malt provides a little body, but unfortunately little flavor.. caramel joins the raspberries on the finish. Medium-bodied and dry on the palate with the aforementioned grainy finish.. raspberries then build after the swallow. This wasn’t bad, but I was hoping for a solid porter with raspberry accents.

Dark reddish brown, moderate sized light tan head with decent retention. Aroma is raspberry dominated, lesser porter notes. Fairly sweet fruity flavor, chocolate comes in as well. Medium to light body. Looks like a hit or miss beer.

Pours a dark brown with a purplish/ plum tint and a thick foamy head. Roasted malt aroma with tons of raspberry and some chocolate. Roasted chocolate malts up fronts with a slight taste of raspberry with a huge amount of raspberry in the finish. This is a very well balanced nteresting beer.

[872-20071130] 355mL (w/ jerc, tupalev). Smells like sweet raspberry pips with tart chocolate notes. Clear, dark brown body with a medium-lasting creamy off-white head. Smoky roasted raspberry and cigarette flavour. Medium-full body. Great beer but unfortunately an uncanny reminder of smoky hotel room comforters.

Very medicial. Smells like Tussin. Little bitter afrtertaste, light body, watery. Not much of a porter for me. Not fond of the odd metalic fruitness.

THOUGHTS: I can’t see why this is called a porter at all. It’s not. As it warms a little their is a slight hint of porter in flavor. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, medium to dark ambery red with a large, sudsy, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. Straight line after straight line of it. The aroma was raspberry with a hint of roasted malt. The initial flavor was moderately acidic, while the finish was lightly sweet, moderately bitter and sour with an average to long duration. The flavor was mostly raspberry with a hint of roasted malt. The light to medium body was kind of watery with fizzy carbonation with a metallic and light astringent finish.

Bottle courtesy of HogtownHarry. Garnite coloured brew with pretty good clarity for a porter. Head doesn’t hang around long. Smell- potent raspberry jam scent and some chocolate. Taste- raspeberry flavour isn’t as pronounced as I expected from the nose. Comes and goes somewhat quickly leaving behind a thin bodied porter. Malt isn’t overly complex and is dry in finish. Some dry chocolate notes, but that’s about it. Finish is pretty watery.