Name: Westbound Coffee Porter
Brewer: Westbound & Down Brewing Company (United States)
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer (Base Style: American Porter)
ABV: 6.5%
Review Year: 2021
Westbound Coffee Porter is an American Porter brewed by Westbound & Down Brewing Company using coffee beans from Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters also from Colorado.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer (30A) with the American Porter (20A) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Ruby brown with a medium brown head. Medium low aromas of chocolate initially surfaced. Revisiting, the Westbound Coffee Porter opened up with moderately high roasty coffee followed by hints of cherry, toffee, and licorice. Light-medium-bodied, moderately low carbonation with a smooth mouthfeel. The flavor is characterized mainly by prominent dark roasted malts and coffee (think of dark roast robusta), with low dark fruit (raisin) and anise accents. Medium bitterness complemented the roasty character, hop flavor was very low, while a very subtle brown sugar-like sweetness was present. Aftertaste lingered long with the familiar roastiness and bitterness. No tartness and any harshly burnt character.
THE VERDICT
Westbound Coffee Porter is a very good example of an American Porter brewed with coffee. Despite showcasing a dark, roasty, coffee, and malty backbone, this porter remained quite drinkable, reminding its drinkers that this is an American Porter and not an Imperial Stout. However, since this is an American Porter at its core, we would prefer slightly more characterful hops in both the aroma and flavor to complement the coffee and a body closer to medium.
Tartness and astringency (slight astringency from dark malts is allowed for the style) are traits we tend to note in dark beers brewed with coffee. Westbound Coffee Porter is absent of these two characteristics, ultimately presenting itself as a very smooth and enjoyable beer.
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