REVIEW 21: RIVER HORSE CHOCOLATE PORTER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  River Horse Brewing Company

STYLE:  Porter

ABV:  6.5%

PURCHASE:  60-oz. pitcher, $12.00

SERVING:  Said pitcher, poured into chilled pint glass. Slow pour (~30 seconds) yielded, for a porter, a standard 1/2" head. A slightly faster (20-second) pour got it to 3/4". Average retention.

APPEARANCE:  Dark coffee brown color. Very dense and, naturally, highly opaque. Lacing is minimal.

BOUQUET:  Definite and pronounced chocolate presence. Pleasant, but masks practically any other aromas--not that that's a bad thing. Smells like a freshly opened chocolate bar that you were chilling in the fridge, except you can make out faint traces of barley malt, toffee, rice, molasses, and, I'm guessing, dark fruit--namely plum--if you strain.

PALATE:  Medium to slightly heavy body, though relatively light and easy-drinking for a porter. Mild carbonation. Entry is softly malty, bordering upon neutral. Bitter chocolate notes enter the picture just before mid-palate. There does indeed seem to be some sort of dark fruit essence here--again, plum--in the finish; my nose was right. Aftertaste is characterized mainly by toasted grains and toffee. A tease of coffee* sneaks in there. 

* I later found out that River Horse ages the chocolate porter with Madagascar vanilla beans.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  On aroma alone, this is world-class. As for the taste, what is there does admirably, though it is lacking in the front palate. In other words, it could stand to be a bit fuller-bodied. To this reviewer, such minor--if tolerable--deficiencies often make the difference between a very good brew and a truly great one. 




GRADE:  B+