Triple Rock Black Rock Porter

Brewed by Triple Rock Brewery & Alehouse
Style: Porter
Berkeley, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Great carbonation, sits pretty high on the bitter scale. Strikes an odd balance of dryness and bitterness, but still works. The aftertaste lingers and is a bit funky.

On cask @ Pizza Port real ale festival: Was poured in a tiny sample since it was a dwindling supply left but still maintained a nice and pleasant serving of head on top of a dark brown porter. The nose was mild and hard for me to detect under my circumstances but I would give it the benefit of the doubt and say it was good enough to pass the test. However, the flavor was average with a dark malt taste and nothing extra than that. Must be more readily available for me to retry and change my mind about.

Quite black, with no head. Aroma slightly hoppy, but rather indistinct. Flavor was well balanced between roasts and hops, but also slightly tart. Some sips were watery, as others have noticed, but this may be due to the fact that its alcohol content is lower than those of the other beers I tasted...

Aroma is coffee-like, with grainy overtones. Flavor is very mild, with some good bitterness. Palate was not very full, even a little watery.

Draft. Chestnut color with an off-white head. Coffee/roast aroma. Roasty/coffee flavor with a bit of sweetness. Medium body. Lingering coffee/caramel with slight hops.

Draft at the brewpub (5.3%). Toasted malt aroma. Color is very dark mahogany with an intermittent tan head. Body is near medium; carbonation is mild and creamy. Very smooth. Flavor is toasted malt and a little hop. No particular notes of coffee or chocolate. Perhaps a little anise. Reasonably dry, toasted and slightly bitter finish.

(On tap) Claimed to be 5.3% ABV. A black beer with an orange glow and a beige, lacing head. Lightly burned aroma. Medium body with very burned and toasted malt. Has some underlying, sweet licorice flavours. The finish is both burned and bitter. 200307

Tap. Very dark brown with a laced light brown head. Strong roasted coffee on a slightly grainy body which makes it rich and robust. The aroma is roasted but does not tip off the intense coffee flavors.

Tasting the cask side by side with the draft is revealing. The cask is empty on the front and heavy in the bitter back. The draft balances all the bitterness with the high coffee notes sparked up by the higher acid and effervescence. The draft was headless and the cask full-headed (through a sparkler). Both were interesting in their own regard but more as a lesson than pleasure drinking.

A damn good porter, big roasted nose, and nice semisweet middle and a fine hop dry finish. A classic porter.