Hello everyone.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the Hoppin’ Frog Silk Porter produced by the Hoppin’ Frog Brewery located in Akron, Ohio.

I have always been fond of Porters and when I saw this one I picked it up.  With a name like that how could I pass it up?  I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but I figured, “what could it hurt?”.

From the website, hoppinfrog.com, I found this description of the Silk Porter.

Dark, robust and silky-smooth, with many flavors of roasted, toasted and caramel malts. Porter is an old-world beer style, so popular that it helped start the industrial revolution. Taste the history.

Ok.  Let’s give it a try.

This brew has an ABV of 6.2% and it comes in a 22 oz. bottle.

It poured a super dark brown to black color with a very small ring of ruby showing at the bottom of the glass.  The head was tan in color, very small, tight, creamy and smooth.  The retention time was average at best and the lacing was just ok in my opinion.

The nose brought out a ton of roasted malts.  Toasted bread crusts, toasted biscuits and toasted grains.  Hints of day old coffee along with some earthy and herbal hop profiles.  Some sweet chocolate helped a bit by trying to balance everything because it was very roasted to say the least.  In a good way mind you.   

The taste revealed even more of that roasted goodness.  In some cases it was almost burnt.  Toasted breads and toasted grains.  Light coffee bean and dried bakers chocolate as well.  Some nice yeasty aspects contributed to a decently sweet taste while keeping the bitterness at a low to medium strength.  I didn’t really find any caramel of which was mentioned in the description.  No matter because the brew was balanced commendably and it had plenty of robustness for me to enjoy without being too over-the-top. 

The mouthfeel was medium to full bodied.  Chewy, smooth, but kind of chalky and dry.  Not nearly as creamy as I thought it might be to be honest.  Especially with a name like “Silk” Porter.  Oh well.  The carbonation was about right and sturdy amount of flavor was left covering the palate after each sip.

Well, all in all, I thought this was a very good beer.  It’s quite solid all the way around and definitely worth a test drive if you favor the Porter style.  The ease of drinkability was rather good too.  I would love to try this again once the Fall season rolls back around.  The roasted aspects would compliment that crisp time of year very well in my opinion.  I’ll say that I wouldn’t have a problem at all recommending this beer to someone interested in trying a genuine American Porter.  With that being said, give the Hoppin’ Frog Silk Porter a taste if you see it and tell me all about your experience….  good or bad.        

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone.  I really appreciate it.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  3.8 out of 5
Grade:  B+