After our jaunt to IncrediBREW, Mike, Brian, and I had a tasting session of all the beers currently in kegs.  These beers included a Strawberry Blonde (which hasn’t been profiled in detail on the site yet), an Oatmeal Stout, a Belgian Tripel, a Scottish 60 shilling (/-) and my Maple Porter. 

A few of them weren’t really carbonated yet, but it was interesting to taste them in this early stage.  All of them were drinkable and I could go on and on about a few of them, especially the Oatmeal Stout, but this post’s focus is on the Maple Porter.

I was going to go through a large scale tasting description of the beer, but I think it’s too early to do that just yet.  So, I will keep it short.

Appearance:  Brown with some ruby tones when I held it to the sunlight.  It was cloudy, but it may clear up once the yeast settles.  No head since it wasn’t fully carbonated.

Aroma: Some maple, some roast, no hop aroma that I could detect. 

Taste: Smoky, fruity, with hints of maple here and there.  Brian could definitely taste the maple.  Mouthfeel was rich, but that may change with the carbonation.  Flavor was, umm, complicated.  There was a lot going on, but not enough roastiness that one would expect from a Porter.  There was some alcohol heat that I could detect.  Finish was lingering with maple notes.

After tasting it a few times, I was happy with my experimental beer.  Mike thought it was more of a Brown ale than a Porter.  I have to agree with him.  I probably should have had some chocolate malt in my recipe.   I am going to submit it to the New England Homebrew Competition to get some expert notes on it as well.

When it has matured a bit more, we will taste it again.  I can imagine this beer will taste good in front of a fire this winter.

Check out my Maple Porter recipe.

Check out the Maple Porter brew day post.

Check out the progress of other beers in our Brew Log category page.