Rogue | Mocha Porter

Rogue Mocha Porter, once known as Newport Porter, in honor of the town of Newport, Oregon and home of Rogue Ales.

Poured into a Hoegaarden hex glass, this porter has very dark cola color that gets to a dark ruby around the edges. After a vigorous pour, the caramel colored head built up about three fingers or so before receding rather quickly. Minimal head retention and lacing, just little bits here and there.

The aroma is a mix of both bittersweet and milk chocolate, mild grassy hops, caramel, and subtle hints of coffee. While it's more or less in the middle, the sweetness just seems to grab my attention a bit more. The flavor starts out with creamy milk chocolate, caramel, and light coffee. Next, earthy/grassy hops that honestly seem a bit metallic in taste, give this beer a little bite. The hop flavor gets pushed back pretty easily by all the dark roasty malt flavor in the finish, leaving you with a creamy semi-sweet chocolate aftertaste.

Although this is a creamy mocha porter, it seems to be a little light in body, almost a little watery for the style. That being said, obviously this is going to be way heavier than a pilsner. Definitely a solid beer for the winter months, and/or to pair nicely with a BBQ meal or chocolate dessert. Personal 6.5/10, for the style 7/10.

Mikkeller | Barrel Aged Chipotle Porter

Mikkeller Barrel Aged Porter, poured into a pint glass from a 12.7oz bottle. This will be our first review of an import; and this one comes to us from Belgium. The story behind Mikkeller is that he is a Danish roaming brewer. He does not own his own facility and he actually uses other brewer's facilities to concoct his creations.

The appearance is of espresso: a very dark brown color with minimal head and lacing left behind. The viscosity is of used motor oil. This is so thick that if you tilt your glass it takes a good few seconds for the beer to make it's way back down the glass.

The aromas are reminiscent of coffee, chocolate, chili peppers, slight alcohol and slight oakiness.Being that this was aged in Speyside Scotch Whiskey barrels, there is definite smoky aroma that compliments the alcohol smell.

Above everything else that is going on in this complex porter, the taste is most dominated by smoky, chocolatey, chili peppery coffee flavor, with a semi-sweet finish that lingers mostly as a dark chocolate. With just a moderate ABV for a barrel aged ale and for as thick as it is this was highly drinkable and would go well with a nice slab of red meat.

If you are looking for a dark beer with more complexity than your standard porter, you should definitely give this one a try. There is just a ton of flavor in this one! Our score for style is a 9 and for personal preference also a 9.