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Tonight’s beer review is Point Reyes Porter from Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, California:

Marin Brewing Co. is another California brewer to add to the Brew Brain list. The Point Reyes Porter label lists no fewer than 19 awards the beer has won since the early 1990’s. Pretty impressive, no?  Poured from a 22 oz. bomber, here’s what I thought:

The scents off the crack of the cap are of deep roasted coffee, chocolate and roasted malts. It smells deep and rich.

the pour was, well, a gusher. Check this out:

I got a huge head with my standard pour, and the foam just kept pouring out of the bottle like a volcanic eruption! It wouldn’t stop. When the head dissipated a bit I poured more been in the glass and the bubbles promptly built up and over the opening of the bottle again. I finally stuck my finger in there and got things calmed down a bit. That was a first for me.

Once I got things sorted out, the beer was a nice very dark brown color with a thick dark tan head that lasts and lasts.

The flavors are very much of dark malts - dark chocolate and some toffee. It finished with slightly bitter coffee notes and a bit of tartness. It’s a very tasty porter when all is said and done. The deep, almost roasted grain flavors bring this just to the stout border if you ask me.

The mouthfeel for me was a puzzle to figure out, but I think I got it nailed. The carbonation was too high in my opinion. Besides the bottle gusher, it was almost as if the carbonation was supposed to create a creamy mouthfeel. For my taste, I’d rather the grains handle that job. I actually stirred the beer up with a spoon to release the excess CO2. That helped a bunch, and I had a perfect porter after the stir, and it was still creamy after releasing all that gas. I would recommend either pouring very hard into your glass, making sure not to overflow, or pouring half a glass carefully and stirring it up a bit. You’ll need equal parts beer and head for a proper mouthfeel in my opinion.

Overall, this beer had very nice porter flavors, and I liked it a whole lot once I got the carbonation issue under control. If you like porters, I’d recommend giving this one a try.

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