Brewer’s today use a vast
array of ingredients to be many different types of beer, and more and more a
experimenting with new ingredients to brew with. One of my favorite ingredients
to use in brewing a beer is coffee. Coffee is generally used in Porters and
Stouts, and rarely used in IPA’s. Here is a local North Carolina beer, Highland
Brewing Company (Asheville, NC) Thunderstruck Coffee Porter, which uses fresh
fair trade/organic coffee beans from Black Mountain NC’s Dynamite Roasting Co.
Thunderstruck pours a deep black color with a two and a half finger beige head
that stick around for a little while then forms thick ropes of lacing. I
couldn’t see much light coming though the glass, but when held to the light the
beer has dark ruby color. I also found no signs of carbonation bubbles. The
aroma on Thunderstruck is like a fresh cup/pot of coffee. There is a big
roasted aroma that reminds of fresh coffee beans/grounds. There is also a
slight sweet scent. The taste on Thunderstruck is roasted like a nice cup of
coffee with hints of faint sweetness and touches of bitterness. I found a nice
hint of a chocolate note on the taste as well. As this beer warms it beings to have less of a
roasted taste and more of the sweetness comes through with more hints of
bitterness. The mouth feel is full with a nice richness, and has a nice coffee
like finish with little roasted sweetness. The aftertaste is like finishing a
semi sweet cup of fresh coffee. I enjoyed this Thunderstruck Coffee Porter, so I
am giving it A-. Highland Brewing really did a good job on brewing a solid
coffee porter, and not some ‘coffee like porters’. Thunderstruck has good
balance among the coffee flavors and the porter flavors, and really shines
though on the aroma and the taste. I would love to have this again, and I do
highly recommend this Thunderstruck Coffee Porter. So go out and try Highland
Brewing Company’s Thunderstruck Coffee Porter as see what you think of it.
Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
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