#21 Sierra Nevada - Porter

I've seen Sierra Nevada bottles in the beer section of the store long before I knew what craft beer was. They now are the 2nd largest craft brewery after Sam Adams. Sierra Nevada's first employee and later Vice President Steven Harrison recently passed away.

I smell very little aroma from this beer. I might I poured too much head it starts smelling soapy, but in the bottle before I poured I could smell some smoked malt. After the foam has gone down I get more smoked malt, dark malt sweetness, and a little hops. I can smell a hop aroma that is more than just the "Beer" smell that I got on the Sam Adams. Like the Sam Adam's porter this is very dark opaque beer. With a lot of foam and good head retention.

The taste is sweet and roasty. Lots of good dark roast malt aromas, only hints of coffee with a slight hop floral taste. The roasted isn't a smoky malt taste but a good slight roast bread like taste. There is a slight bitterness with this porter that I think is from the malts and not the hops. I think the beer is a little thin on the mouth feel. It doesn't have the rich full mouth feel of some porters.

This is an enjoyable beer, with lots of taste. I would like a little more body to the mouth feel, but that isn't taking away from the beer.