Zero Gravity Black Cat Porter

Brewed by Zero Gravity (American Flatbread)
Style: Porter
Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Draft at the brewpub. Slightly smoky aroma. Reddish black body, tan head. Overly mild flavor, caramel and malts. Nice finish, but otherwise a disappointment.

Thanks to Paul for bringing the growler! Pours a deep reddish brown with a nice beige head. The aroma is very roasty with nice chocolate and coffee notes. The taste is very full and satisfying – lots of roasted malts, coffee, and cocoa, with nicely restrained hop bitterness that pulls it all together. The mouthfeel is perfectly full and rich, but finishes clean. A damn fine, easy drinking porter.

Tap. Mild and drinkable middle-of-the-road porter. Roasty enough, hoppy enough, and cold enough. Nothing special but I enjoyed it.

Pours a nearly-opaque dark brown with a thin ring of tan head. Aroma is mild and lightly-roasted with a touch of English hops. Body starts with a semi-sweet toasty, then dry malty presence with a nice bittering balance. Has a smooth, yet full malty palate. A nice, easy drinking and flavorful porter.

Deep brown flow, tiny-off white head. Dominating roasted flavours bring on sandy, earthy and slightly floury nuances that accentuates the hops being on the light side. Rooty and not very complex in mouth. Ultimately quite average. High carbonation, light-medium bodied.

Lightly roasty aroma with liquorice and chocolate notes. Clear dark brown body with a low off white head that recedes to ring. Charcoal and roasted malts battle valiantly with vinous dark fruit but flavours don’t blend well for me. Cocoa sweetness is lasting. Medium light body is somewhat thin in the mouth with low carbonation. Sampled on tap at the brewpub with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, muzzlehatch, Rastacouere and Yowie.

The pour reveals a black color with ruby highlights and a ring of offwhite lace. Classic aroma of roasted malt and chocolate. The flavor is dominated by the roasted malt and the chocolate, the finish is bitter. The palate is light and creamy and the carbonation is moderate.

The Lure:
Roasted malts accompany the sweet fruitiness, but nothing calls out to me. Shy, but apparently balanced.

The Festivities:
Citrusy hops and roasted malt combine in a dry and bitter finale. Grapes succeed in linking the two sides, achieving balance. Another quaffable and humble pint from Zero Gravity.

Transcendence:
Sitting on the windowsill, watching the day pass by in silence.

Draught pint at the brewpub, with Muzzlehatch on 11/5/05. Dark black-brown body is nearly opaque, though settles out transluscent with a strong magenta tinge on the edges and a short-lived tan colored head. Aroma of roast, light coffee and bits of fruits (cherries, oranges, berries). A hint of creamy vanilla attempts to assert itself, but is scared off by the thick roast reprise on the end. The flavor begins with a chewy chocolate (dark) and roasted malt flavor that initially looks promising. But as this flavor recedes, a dry, almost chalky blandness begins to creep in and, simultaneously, the body thins out, and a touch of wateriness is had. Sharp carbonation seems to break up any fluidity in the mouthfeel and it just continues to stay too dry and roasty with no return appearance from the sweet chocolate malt or vanilla. Yeast apparency is low in the flavor, with a passing touch of dark fruits. Too heavy on the roast, needs more body. Still, a disappointment from this brewer is by no means a poorly done beer. No doubt the next batch will work out better.

Pint at the brewpub, with ClarkVV. Very dark, lightly red-tinged brown-black body with a small creamy dissipating head...burgundy and cherry up front in the nose, dark coffee-chocolate robustness shows up late...body is fairly light for style, quite heavily carbonated, rather dark and bitter/roasty in the flavor, little sweetness and very dry and almost chalky late...mildly successful but rather too light and lacking in malt.