Archive for the 'Meantime' category
Meantime Coffee Porter
Honestly, I haven’t really explored the Meantime bunch of brews too well – not too sure why. However, Meantime took the liberty of placing this adventurous little brew in an equally adventurous little bottle, of which I will hopefully find a picture to post – it’s sorta like a little miniature Eiffel tower of a bottle. Anyway, being a fan of an occasional coffee flavored brew and enjoyable bottles, I decided to give this one a go.
This beer pours a rather dark brown, but there is some translucence to it, unlike the traditionally super-dark coffee flavored stouts that one more often finds. In addition, there is a rich caramel head that, while rather decadent, tends to disappear rather quickly. The aroma of this brew is absolutely great – it smells of fresh wet coffee grounds and is very pungent. There may be just a hint of chocolate also on the nose, but the coffee is the predominant presence here. Now for the flavor. For a porter, this is quite rich and the coffee flavor is very present. It’s difficult to review this, as the only real comparisons I have in coffee flavored brews are stouts, and those are inevitably darker and creamier. However, this, being a porter, has a certain lightness to the mouthfeel that is a bit refreshing. The flavor through the mouth goes from a biting sensation on the tip of the tongue to a rich and flavorful coffee taste on the middle of the tongue that eventually translates into coffee/chocolate hybrid in the aftertaste. All the while, there is a pleasant mouthfeel, but one that is lighter and more fleeting than a stout, leading to a relatively clean finish and an aftertaste that, while having some longevity, isn’t overbearing. Overall, I like this beer. It’s better in the current hot weather than a fuller beer, but it still gives you a great fresh coffee flavor that you won’t find in many other beers this time of year. So, if you dig coffee beers, give this a go – it’s probably worth your time.
