When Two Brothers make a porter ale, it’s excellent.  I had one in a restaurant that featured local brews – a German place deep within Chicagoland suburbia – and that was the beer which set me down this porter rabbit hole I’ve been exploring.

So here I find a beautiful 1 pint 6 ounce bottle of Two Brothers COFFEE porter – a black ale brewed with coffee beans.  Coffee?  And porter ale?

It’s almost like they brewed it especially for me.

You can smell deep roasted dark malt but no coffee.  First sip, though – COFFEE.  Yes indeed, and lots of it.  Of all the coffee ales I’ve tasted, this one tastes the most like coffee.  Really strong black coffee.

Mixed with beer.

I like it but I wouldn’t say I love it – not like I loved their regular porter.  It’s not sweet enough for my sweet tooth, and its not hoppy enough to account for its bitterness.

It’s a good one-off novelty drink.  Fun at a party.  But it’s not an all-night swilling ale.  So…

I’ll call it groovy, not holy.  Good, but not over-the-top.  A fun experiment.

Worth trying.

Especially if you love strong black coffee.

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