Saranac Caramel Porter

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

pours a deep brown with a dark copper hue, small cream colored head that quickly dissipates, no lacing. The aroma is caramel, and lots of it! It literally smells like butterscotch syrup. I can get a faint smell of hops but not much. Just a bit of coffee as well. The taste is of very sweet caramel malts, tastes much like some kind of dessert. Finishes slightly bitter, that's about the only way you can detect any hops. The sweetness stays on your palate long after sipping. The mouthfeel is medium body, creamy, moderate carbonation. Sweetness dominates the palate.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Saranac doesn't strike a chord with me as a great brewery, Their beers tend to be hit and miss in my opinion. This one is a miss. I like a good porter every now and then, and I like caramel, but something went wrong when they decided to mix them with this beer. Too much sweetness going on here.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 3

I picked this beer up at Fresh Market in Roanoke, VA. In short, it was miserable. It was a sticky, syrupy mess. This beer was sweet and was far more caramel than porter. I will not have this again.

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

A deep reddish-brown colored ale. A bif foamy off white/beige head. Some hang time. Not overly impressive. Light ringlet of lacing left behind. Strong scent of carmelized malt. The body is light. Not watery, though. Decent carbonation. Caramel, in taste this porter is. Interesting, different. Worth a try.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I saw this one at Beers of the World in Rochester, NY. The wife had me on a short leash for purchasing beer that day and I was limited to only buying a few. So I only purchased a single of this one.

The pour on this one was absolutely great. There was a huge, two finger thick head that had soon produced some dimples. It looked almost spongy. The color of the head was a dirty tan color. After about 5 minutes the head died down on the beer to leave behind a light film across the top of the beer. The color of the beer was very dark brown and had a light reddish hue around the edges. The aroma was a little on the funky side. There was almost a buttery-sweet smell to it that really was unexpected. I was totally expecting a sweet caramel smell and didn't really get that.

The mouthfeel on this one is rather easy going. It's got this creamy smoothness that drinks pretty well. The flavor has a heavy hit of roasted malts on the front end with some caramel mixed in somewhere in the middle. There's a slight hint of hops in there as well, but nothing that is abundant and adds to the flavor that much.

Another solid offering from the folks at Saranac. This one has a nice flavor that really would hit the spot on a cold winter night. Very drinkable and something that I would definitely recommend to someone just getting into trying the porter styles of beer.

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

It pours dark brown with a deep red hue. The head is foamy but small with a tan color and nice lace. It has a sweet aroma of caramel covered white bread. The flavor is simple but good with a heavy does of sweet caramel and some toasted malts. The flavor is almost candy like and fades slowly into the finish. Its palate is medium bodied and silky smooth. I always enjoy the caramely sweet flavor of this simple and tasty porter.

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

Medium Tan head on this one. Very dark appearance and has deep reddish highlights in the light. Aroma is most noticably caramel with sweet fruitiness or something in there as well. Roasted malts & a caramel-buttery taste. Tastes like like a candy corn porter. Nothing special really.

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

big nose on this brew. Toffee, figs, vanilla, and grapes settle into a very winey nose. A big dark beige head with good retention sits over a deep chocolate brown body with god and ruby highlights. Classic lacing. A very soft and full mouthfeel, smooth and velvety, a very sensual mouth. flavor takes some getting used to and may put some folks off, this is an unusual flavor. Slightly mindful of chocolate covered raisins, maybe even Dr. Pepper. this is a sweet brew but its very nicely balanced with traditional English hopping. A very nicely done, fairly complex beer I suspect it would marry well with a cheese fruit and cheese course. Probably not a session brew. RERATE (downwards slightly) 12/2/10 Head and lace not as good as previously, sweetness a bit cloying though finish is still fairly dry.

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

Poured a dark brown with an impressive head of tan foam that built high and stuck around for a while. Smell was of melted caramel- think candy and oak. Tastes like caramel, sweet, nuts, was a little watery, not as bold as I would loved it to have been but well rounded.

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

Pours darker brown. Many of this beer's attributes are average but the flavor is something very original. Good flavor, filled with notes of caramel with a seeminly butterscotch influence too. Overall, this beer doesn't seem like what you'd expect from a porter BUT a great drink nonetheless.