Beer: Pipeline Porter

[javabird]

This coffee porter was, to my taste, one of the best coffee porters I have yet tasted. For many, I think it would be characterized as under carbonated, but as I have a preference for low carbonated beers, I found it to be perfect. It poured very smooth, with a small dark tan head of medium sized bubbles. The coffee aroma was not particularly pungent but neither was it absent. The top notes were rich malts with just enough grain bitter and a light hop note from the boil hop. The hop character in this brew was subdued; as very stronl hopped beer is in fashion right now I think others would say this is under hopped. I do think that the minimized hop allowed the blend of the coffee and dark malted grains to showcase perfectly. The coffee came through pleasantly and subtly throughout without an acid taste that coffee can sometimes impart. Much to my surprise, there was little oxidation (but later I see on the bottle that it was brewed and bottled in New Hampshire rather than Hawaii which explains the freshness).

Verdict: Terrific

Brewery: Kona Brewing Co
Location: Portsmouth NH (also Kona, HI) USA
Style: Porter
Brew: Pipeline Porter with 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee (Limited Edition)
Container: brown glass 12 oz
Bottle conditioned: No