A Beautiful Black Butt
Written: Jul 31 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy drinking, pleasant coffee, caramel, toasty, smoky balance
Cons: Distribution
The Bottom Line: A wonderfully full-flavored porter, with an underlying smokiness. It’s surprisingly easy drinking and a must for any porter fan.
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| andaryl's Full Review: Black Butte Porter |
For my second beer of the evening I thought it would be appropriate to stick with the Deschutes brewery, and this time try their porter. For those of you not familiar with the style, porter is the founder of stouts, and is a little lighter in body and easier drinking.
I didn’t really comment much on the brewery in my previous review so I thought I’d throw a few notes into this one.
The Brewery
Deschutes Brewery was founded as a brewpub in 1988. Located in Bend, Oregon, it takes its name from the local Deschutes River. It’s funny because until I looked into things further I always thought there was something German about the brewery, which was in fact my own imagination (shuffle a couple of letters around and you get Deutsches, the German word for German).
The Deschutes story has been one of pretty rapid growth, going from 310 barrels in its first year to 79,000 in 1998. I was attracted to this brewery’s beers by some very convincing reviews, here at epinions, from the Beverage Tasting Institute, and other sources.
Black Butte Porter
My wife says bewt, I say butt. Oh well, I’m English and she’s American (I say tom-ar-to, she says tom-ay-to).
The brewers say:
“Dark, rich and smooth. A beer which truly dispels the myths about dark beer. Black Butte Porter defines the Northwest Porter category.”
A Multi-Award Winner
* Gold Medal, Bottled American Brown Ales & Porters, 2001 Real Ale Festival
* Gold Medal, Porter, 2001 West Coast Brew Fest
* Gold Medal, Brown Porter, 2000 NABA Competition
* Bronze Medal, Brown Porter, 2000 World Beer Cup
* Gold Medal, Brown Porter, 1999 NABA Competition
* Gold Medal, Porter, 1998 California Brewers Festival
* Silver Medal, Brown Porter, 1998 World Beer Cup
* Gold Medal, Brown Porter, 1996 Great American Beer Festival
Tasting Notes
Black Butte pours to a very dark brown, almost black color. There’s a slightly detectable carbonation despite the dark color, and a thin foam that quickly dissipates. It’s a little Coca-Cola like at first glances.
The nose shows an initial nuttiness, probably walnut, as well as a dry roasted coffee and caramel aroma. There’s also a very (barely noticeable) light sign of hops.
Compared to others I’ve tried in this style, this is a relatively light on the palate, with just a little carbonation, which makes this something of an easy drinker.
There’s an underlying burnt smokiness throughout the flavor. A little light sugary sweetness greets you at the start, while the beer thickens more in the middle showing a caramel maltiness and becoming increasingly toasty. The finish is dry and coffee-like, while the smokiness remains long into the aftertaste along with a little dark chocolate.
Verdict
This is a very good porter; among the best I’ve tried and is surprisingly easy drinking too. A touch more in the way of body would have made this perfect, or is that just me asking for a stout instead?
Overall I can’t complain about a beer that left me feeling totally satisfied. If darker beers are your thing, give this one a try if you have the fortune of finding it, it’s a must for porter fans.
Availability
As I mentioned in my previous review, this brewery’s beers are only distributed in 9 states: Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Northern California, Hawaii, Nevada (Reno) and Wyoming (Jackson Hole). The brewers recommend that those seeking their beers check out “The Belmont Station.” The telephone number is 888-892-2337.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Andrew Smith
Location: The Desert, So Cal
Reviews written: 219
Trusted by: 174 members
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