For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a coffee porter that'll get you wired.
It was a chilly night here in Maryland and, after a hearing a performance of a Bach concerto, a good dessert and a smooth porter sounded like just the perfect thing to finish off this elegant evening.
And there it was on the restaurant's beer list: Hard Wired Coffee Porter from Left Hand Brewing.
As you can expect from a porter, it pours a dark, opaque black with a tan head and good carbonation from the addition of nitrogen (which will give the beer a creamier consistency). It's a mild 6% ABV, which is also typical of porters.
There's a nice coffee aroma, which continues into the taste, along with mild, sweet chocolate and toffee. It also has a slightly bready taste (also typical of porters) with a very mild bitterness and a slightly dry finish.
Overall, it's a really nice porter that has the potential for really big, overpowering flavors (coffee, especially), but is nicely balanced and nothing seems to overwhelm the other flavors.
What really helps this is the nitro addition, which we've found actually mutes the flavors slightly. I suspect the coffee would be more pronounced if you poured this beer straight out of a bottle.
Bottom line? If you normally drink coffee, this is a great beer to try, particularly with a rich, chocolatey dessert. The flavors would complement each other nicely.
Who's up for trying this beauty?
Cheers!
Christian and Eric
