Santa Fe State Pen Porter

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours opaque coffee with a thick buff head. Aroma yields roast malt, nutty, semi-sweet chocolate, and a sharp alcohol bite - surprising for something only 6.4%. Flavor provides roast malt, semi-sweet chocolate, nutty, subtle molasses and earthy tones. Texture features so-so body and fair fizz. Do your hard time.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pretty decent porter. Nice roasted malt, coffee, light chocolate dark fruit aroma. Flavor also has hints of nuts and Carmel. Feel would be very smooth but for a slight overcarbonation, leaving it just a touch pricklier than wanted. Finishes semi sweet and dry.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled on 10/9/2012. This porter pours a dark black color from a 12oz bottle. Small to medium sized off-white foamy head. The aroma is roasty malt, chocolate and slightly sweet. A medium bodied porter. The malts are roasty and coffee, fruity and sweet. The hops are herbal and earthy. Decent carbonation. There are some brown sugar and molasses flavors as well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish Is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly roasty and sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Today I threatened to shoot a naked woman with my erection. ... . bought a single at Leibmans, $1.79 .. . Pours a deep brown black .. light to medium foam, light spots of lacing .. . coleman, really? .. . light tr, roast ,malt, and a unique english mild sourness .. . ugggh, a good bit of chunky shot on the end pour,, i thought the slight pleasing sourness was on purpose, obviously not... i really like this beer, like a lot, but until i poured the last bit out and got that black cummy crap, this was world class, now i'm gonna scope! .. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlSF0dtDRD8

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Aromas and flavors lean toward roasted nuts, bitter and acidic coffee with some touches of chocolate. Overall it was a touch rough and bitter, but a decent porter none the less.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Not a bad brew. Got this in my beer of the month club gift from the in-laws. Pours a thick black colour, not much head, little brown froth. Low carbonation. Aroma is almondy, flavors are peanut like, chocolate and oak.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

A beer of the month club entry for October 2011 might just possibly be the official beer of the state penitentiary of the great state of New Mexico? Pours a nice full brown just like a porter should, The fluid body is lite but nicely flavorful with a decent ABV. I am sure the inmates in the "state pen" appreciate that attribute!

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

12oz bottle. Pours a medium brown with a small fluffy light tan head that quickly goes to a thin film that leaves a little lacing.

The aroma is roasted chocolate malts with some acidic coffee notes.

The flavor is roasted grains with some sweet chocolate and coffee notes and some smoky peat. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with some slightly sharp carbonation.

Overall, a solid porter with nice notes of roasted malts, chocolate and coffee.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

While I'm out here in Phoenix on vacation, I'm taking the opportunity to sample some brews from the surrounding states. One of the first that I tried was the State Pen Porter from Santa Fe Brewing Company which I found at Top's Liquor in Tempe, AZ.

I poured this one out into my glass and it looked as if I were pouring out some dirty motor oil. The beer is dark and black. There was a lot of carbonation packed into this one and it produced a huge, 2 finger thick dirty tan head. Bubbles were seen clinging to the side of the glass just after being poured. The head quickly dissolves away to leave a thin scummy looking head behind on top of the beer. The aroma was full of roasted malts and a dark fruitiness during the pouring process. They were just oozing out of the glass. Upon further examination of the aroma, you get this slight sour note similar to a Flemish ale. It was very unique and quite enjoyable.

The flavor follows up very well with what is noticed in the aroma. There are a whole bunch of different flavors that hit my tongue including some sweet roasted malts, cocoa, and even some dark cherry flavors and a hint of smoke. That cherry flavor in there really throws in a flavor that I'm not sure I've ever experienced in a porter before, so that's very cool! The beer's carbonation level is a little high for my liking. I like my porters with a tad less carbonation than what I found int his one. Still though, it's very drinkable and I really enjoyed this one.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours with a frothy, almost three-finger thick, light brown colored head that clings quite thickly to the sides of my glass as it slowly recedes. The beer is a nice, burnt, dark chocolate color, but if held up to the light it shows a dark, brilliantly clear, ruby colored luminescence in the depths of its dark body. The aroma has a nice roast fruitiness to it that is noticeable upon pouring it. Other aromas of chocolate, well toasted grain, burnt cherry & berry notes and lightly roasted coffee beans are noticed upon deeper inspection. The roast / dark malt notes can get a little sharp / harsh at times, but overall this is quite a nicely aromatic nose.

Lightly sweet, with quite a bit more body fullness than I was expecting. The sweet malt notes feel velvety even and this beer coats & clings to the mouth like one would expect of a much bigger beer. There seems to be a bit of an off flavor here, which is really a shame as the richness of this brew was really quite something. This off flavor is very subtle, but seems to contribute a mix of flavors reminiscent of burnt, cooked cabbage / broccoli and perhaps something a bit like spoiled watermelon. Up front this beer has a rich, chocolate flavor to it, but it gets more roasted and slightly burnt towards the finish where it picks up some roast bitterness, a light burnt grain acidity, flavors reminiscent of black and darkly roasted coffee. As the beer warms up a bit it loses a bit more of the previously subtle off-flavors and becomes even more like a chocolate elixir.

This would be an incredibly good Porter if not for that bit of off character. The texture is very nice (not too heavy, but still rich and satiating) and this beer reminds me quite a bit of Fullers London Porter, but more roasted.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ