8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

16 ounce crowler into tulip glass, filled on 6/9/2019. Pours nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, chili/chipotle peppers, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted biscuit, and brown bread; with lighter notes of smoke, dark fruit, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, cinnamon, peppers, vanilla, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, chili/chipotle peppers, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted biscuit, and brown bread; with lighter notes of smoke, dark fruit, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, roasted bitterness; and pepper/cinnamon spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, chili/chipotle peppers, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted biscuit, brown bread, light dark fruit/smoke, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, cinnamon, peppers, vanilla, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a nice hop/roast bitter/sweet, and spiciness balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation/body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 6.3%. Mild increasing pepper heat through the glass, but pretty minimal. Overall this is an excellent spiced american porter. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, cinnamon, peppers, vanilla, and light earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mildly bitter/spicy/drying finish; great soft feel. Great balance of nicely rich malts, cocoa, cinnamon, pepper, and vanilla flavorings; with mild earthy hops and fruity yeast. Lightly sweet with lingering dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressively well made style example. Was expecting more spice presence, but is adequate without being overwhelming.