Wolavers Alta Gracia Coffee Porter

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: Porter
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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UPDATED: DEC 11, 2009 Bottle. Dark opaque pour with a tan head. Possibly the most magnificent coffee scent I’ve ever smelled in a beer. Literally smells like a fresh brewed pot of coffee. Taste is the same - coffee all the way through. Mouthfeel is a little thinner/stringier than I would have liked, but this literally smells like a cup of coffee. I enjoyed it. Update: re-rating it a few days after the fact. Wishing I had more of this.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a black color with a medium sized dark brown head. The aroma was dry, bitter and roasty with a very strong coffee presence. The flavor was dry, bitter and roasty with a strong gritty coffee presence and a touch of vanilla and cream. The finish was long dry, and roasty with a lingering coffee presence. Fairly full bodied. Tasted more like coffee than the coffee I drank this morning. Solid.

12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market, Charlottesville, VA. Pours a dark brown color with a thin head that fades quickly to a few persistent wisps. Looks much like coffee, actually. Big coffee aroma. Sweet with some chocolate as well. Taste is vanilla, tea, coffee, nuts and faint roastiness. Blends well. Medium bodied. Smooth with fairly strong carbonation.

Draft @ Blind Tiger. Black pour. Great Fresh coffee aroma, however flavor does not back it up. More of a roasted flavor than coffee. Decent brew.

Warning: I’m not a fan of regular coffee. Although I recognize and appreciate the coffee elements of darker beers, the actual aroma and taste of coffee is abhorrent to me. Moderate head that dies to a single layer of bubbles. Leaves good ring lace. Near black in color, the faintest of light comes through the edge of the glass. Bitter, bitter black coffee aroma. Think coffee grounds. Okay, way too much coffee for me to enjoy. Very bitter and dry. There’s no other flavor for me to detect. Fairly typical body with a slightly high carbonation level. The aftertaste is all coffee. In some ways, I should not rate this because I struggle with this flavor. If you are a coffee lover, you may love this.

Pours deep brown and has a good deal of delicious vanilla aroma. Maybe some raisin and coffee as well, as is expected on a stout. Same on the mouth - mildly sweet and pleasingly bitter to finish. Fair amount of finesse for a Wolaver’s -- one of the best I’ve tried. Great fall/winter beer.

12oz. bottle from VBM. I can’t believe there is only 5 ratings for this! Where is all those great VT raters? Pours an almost opaque dark brown body with a small khaki head and some decent lacing. This just might be the most intensely coffee smelling beer I’ve ever tried. Aroma is full of espresso, fresh coffee, roasted malts, vanilla..kinda reminds me of a nice Irish coffee,minus the whiskey. Flavor is also full of espresso, coffee with some sweet malts. Full bodied, bit of a bubbly mouthfeel. Aftertaste is, you guessed it, coffee. I’m actually not a big coffee drinker, more of an OJ guy, but this beer is so full of the stuff and yet very drinkable. Great balance of bitterness with sweet flavor like a cup of black coffee 2 sugar. Good beer.

Bottle. Pours deep brown with a tan head. Roasted coffee aroma, with some burnt malty notes and a hint of vanilla. The flavor brings fresh roasted coffee, a slightly burnt notes, and a light sweetness. Tasty, and organic.

Draft, had two pints of this. Pours a black body with a coffee tan head. Aroma is fresh roasted coffee, which i personally love. The aroma doesn’t follow through fully into the flavor but its still a decent burnt roast slightly old, with ashen hints and moderate bitterness. Light body with little warming, a nice session coffee porter.

On draught. Cloudy dark brown pour with a medium frothy light brown head. Aroma of coffee smokey malt. Nice medium bodied taste of coffee, roasted malt and peanuts. Nice even, slightly bitter finish.