Stone Smoked Porter

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
Escondido, California USA

pours black with a foamy off-white head that starts at two fingers and slowly falls to one and coats the glass. Aroma is of subdued chocolates and malt, though there’s not much at first. Flavor shows some carbonation and alcohol and leaves behind a coffee aftertaste.

this beer poured a browinish black with a little head that turned into a straw colored ring. i couldn’t detect much in the nose at first because i think the beer was a bit too cool. as it warmed up, i noticed the smoked maltiness. this beer isn’t complex in the nose, but smells delicious. the taste is of roasted malt with some hop bittering. superbly balanced. the mouthfeel is full and great for this style. overall, this is a freaking awesome beer that i could drink on the daily. a big thanks to barefootbrewer for sharing this one with me.

Vintage 2004 Pours dark brown, almost black and opaque. Mahogany edging with a crimson hue. A humble half-inch head of beige retreated quickly to a partial coverage skim coat and a few dots of lacework. Aromatics are surprisingly vineous. Bitter chocolate, red wine, scorched caramel bits, some dark fruit, and a smidge of smoldering embers. A hint of vanilla rounds out the bunch. Thin mouthfeel. Slightly creamy with low carbonation. Dark chocolate, deep roasted malts, espresso grounds and mild smoke on the pallet. All are quite balanced and the overall character is subdued and sessionesque. Finishes with some lingering caramel drizzeled dark malts. While the four years in the cellar has brought a complexity to the nose, the body and pallet has faded.

Somehow I managed to overlook this one, rating from memory. The smoke, to me, is closer to what you get from roasted malts than from actually smoking the beer. But this seems to be pretty common from peat smoking. At any rate, chocolatey and chalky, finishes dry. Pretty nice.

Opaque black pour with a thick light-tan head. Beautiful lacing on the glass. Malty aroma with hints of wood and smokiness. Bitter malt and roast flavor. Hints of smoke. Lots of coffee on the tongue. Typical porter. Not bad, but nothing special.

Pours a dark black letting almost no light escape through the glass. Nice looking cream colored head which does not dissipate quickly. Smells hopped up and inviting however it doesnt nearly smell like i would expect for how dark it looks. Although the smell was mild, the taste is smoky and reminescant of burnt hops. Very tasty. It has a fairly thick mouthfeel and seems to be carbonated just the right amount, enough to give it a good consictency but not be distracting. It is a pleasure to drink but since it is dark the drinkability suffers a bit, easy to drink one glass but after that it gets harder.

Very soild porter. nice smokey flavor that is not overpowering. nice rich flavors of chocolate, roasted malts, and hops. another great brew from Stone.

Bottle courtesy of Beervirgin72.........thanks Dawn! :) Poured a deep, deep brown, almost black, letting almost no light in. Head was creamy and left a nice smooth thick lace. The nose hits home with a start of minty hops and roasted coffee beans. It then leads into cocoa and milk chocolate with a dark fruit component, and the smoke just barley makes an appearance. This is a very roast-forward porter upfront in the mouth. The roast is accompanied by a dark chocolate and sweet plums. Following towards the finish are bitter espresso notes with a very fresh hop profile. Quite bitter with a nice minty, sweet aftertaste. Interesting there is very little smoke here. This is a very creamy, drinkable porter, and at 5.9%, I could drink a lot of this. Thanks Dawn, for giving me the opportunity to try this. I’ve wanted this for a while, and it makes a perfect #1300. Much appreciated!