Asheville Ninja Porter
Everyone loves a good ninja, and we’re no exception. This beer has chopped, flipped and posed its way to its pedestal as one of our most popular and asked-about offerings. "How?" you may ask. Part of it is pure stealth power and part of it is pure secret, and we’d have to kill you. But the other part is the rich, satisfying body and hard-hitting chocolate finish with notes of coffee and caramel. Carefully measured quantities of Mt. Hood, Northern Brewer and Cascade hops added with masterful precision balance it all out.
3.4
198 reviews
Asheville, United States
Community reviews
12 oz. can thanks going out to TAR on this one. Aroma is cocoa powder, weak roast, traces of coffee. Flavor is a a mirror image of the aroma. Low roasted roasted malt backbone. Body is right for a porter and the carbonation gave a smooth/ creamy texture. Pretty well made, standard Porter.
From can (5/16/15). Mild hoppy metallic nose, sweet and roasty malt, light caramel. Dark black-brown clear with light tan lacing head. Medium body with medium-high carbonation. Starts sweet with chocolate and roast malt, light molasses and some vanilla. Nice rounded sweet finish with mild hoppy bitterness. Roasty bitter after. A nice porter.
Decent porter, with roast and caramel and chocolate in about equal measure. Drinks a little light.
On tap @ Barley’s - Asheville. Dark brown in color with a khaki head. There’s a good bit of roasted malts, coffee, and chocolate/cocoa powder. Slight sweetness to it. Maybe a touch of burnt toast, too. There’s some nutty sweetness along with toasted malts and a hint of molasses. Decent enough bitterness of roasted malts and the associated coffee/chocolate characteristics. It’s decent enough.
A decent porter overall, nothing too special though. Pours a deep black with a tan head. Smells of nuttiness and cream, coffee. Taste is similar, quite creamy, full-bodied with coffee throughout. Had on tap at the brewery.
Pour was a dark deep brown with a tan head. Good lacing. Aroma of chocolate and roast. Flavor the same, some nuts and smoke. Smooth and silky. Just a very nice porter.
Deep brown with a clingy foam. Toasted aromas. Medium bodied. Slight roast with a longer finish than most porters.
Draft at the Coxe Ave location. Poured a dark brown color with a small tan head. Aroma was lots of roasted malts, some light coffee. Toasted, roasted and lightly smoked. Flavor had a nice roast character with a light milk chocolate, creamy finish.
Draft sample at their brewpub, opaque dark brown color with tan head. Aroma notes of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee and light smoke. Taste adds milk chocolate, char, brown sugar and slight nuttiness. Medium body, low-moderate carbonation, creamy with roast finish. Pretty chocolaty sweet porter, good.
It pours black even when held up to the light. I leaves lacing with a healthy head. There are aromas of chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts. The main flavoring is coffee and roasted malts with hints of chocolate.
Light nut aroma and opaque dark brown color. Stout head lasts a while. Sweet malty base that is slightly tempered by the hops. Finishes lingers a bit too long.
Can courtesy of Jason,poured into a snifter..dark brown with a fluffy off white head..aroma of
chocolate,caramel,roasted nuts and smoke.
Tastes of chocolate,vanilla,smoke,nuts..good stuff.
Tap, brown pour, tan head, nose and taste are caramel, nutty, vanilla, pretty good
On tap. Pours a black color with off white head. Roasty, malty sweet, slight char aromas. Roasty, malty, sweet, slight nutty, toffee flavors.
Keg at the brewpub on Coxe, Asheville, 17/02/15.
Light black with moderately appointed beige spotting and edgework.
Nose is roast malt, toffee, cocoa powder, light vanilla.
Taste comprises light roast, chocoalte, charr, pinch of spice, light hop tones.
Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close.
Ok.
Excellent appearance with a huge tan billowy head that lasts with lace. Otherwise a bit sweet and shallow. Not bad and drinkable, but not a lot of character.
Keg @ the brewpub. Deep brown with a small head. Nose of coffee, roasted grain. Chocolate cream pie. Ho hos. Taste is pretty sweet. Brown sugar, sort of creamy. Dark chocolate sweet/bitter. Touch of coffee. Medium body, soft carb.
4oz on tap at the brewpub. Near-black color. Thin off-white head. Ring of off-white head. Dots and bits of lace. Smooth, kind of soft, lighter carbonation. Medium to bigger body. Smooth, kind of soft, lighter carbonation. Light dry finish. Dark fruit, some dark chocolate, light dry finish. Milk chocolate aroma, mildly earthy. Moderate sweet taste, nice light to moderate bitter. A solid kind of milky porter.
On tap at the brewpub. Dark brown pour with a tan head. Dark roasted malt aromas. The taste follows suit with nutty/earthy subtones. Good body and mouthfeel.
Pours black with off white head. Very attractive. Aromas of lactose, chocolate, red berries. Sweet, fruity lactose flavors, notes of chocolate and coconut. A bit thin. Good stuff.
Can. Ash and chocolate malt aroma. Black with nice tan head. Lightly sweet chocolate malt and mildly bitter wood ash/herbal flavor. Decent body.
Location: Draft at Weinhaus, 12/31/14
Aroma: The aroma is roasted and bitter chocolate malts, earth, and a little ash
Appearance: Pours a brown color with a bubbly light brown head and decent lace
Flavor: The taste is lightly sweet, fairly malty, chocolate, roast, and a mid-bitter finish
Palate: Pretty easy drinking, with an average-plus carbonation, light for the style, dry finish
Overall Impression:
More bitter than I expected in the style, but fairly clean and rather drinkable. The overall profile is okay, but maybe just lacking a bit of depth of flavor. I drank this right after the Ninja Bread Man, which I preferred, but this is still tasty.
Pours from 12 oz can an opaque black, forming decent medium beige head of foam. Aroma of bitter chocolates, burnt nuts, deep malted barley, coffee and smokey grass. Flavour much all the same, deeply flavourful, robust beer. Big surprise, recommend.
Can: (5.6 %ABV)......also invites one to "Open a Can of Whoop Ass!".....(Which as we know, is among the basic principals of Bushido, though rarely translated in the Western Texts.....but, I digress.....)
Pours a dark, rubied-brown with a frothy, medium shade of tan head.
Cocoa, vanilla, and almost a berry aroma.
Flavour is cocoa, cream, cola, caramel malt and vanilla.
Very light coffee/smoke/ash bitter....
Almost a sweet stout....rather than a porter.....
Nonetheless.....Extremely good.
Pours a very dark brown with a camel colored head. He has a modest moderately roasted malt nose. Flavors approximate the nose. Standard Porter.
A nice robust porter. Dark coffee and smokey flavors. Nice mouthfeel also. Sweet malty pleasant. Not much a head.
From the 11/2014 3R6P gathering. +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a black color with faint orange highlights and a medium sized foamy tan head that left decent lacing. The aroma was roasty, vanilla, a bit of molasses and charcoal. The flavor was dryish and roasty with wood and hints of smoke and cola. Long finish. Medium body. Meh.
Aroma of toasted nuts and cocoa. Taste is milky and chocolate. Delicious. Sampler draft at bier garden in Asheville.
Aroma of dark roasted malts, chocolate with vanilla notes. Dark brown/black pour with a robust head and abundant foam. The pallet is pleasing sweet, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and nutmeg. (Must be the ginger.) Full body and medium carbonation. Overall, an unusual and rewarding take on a porter. A great way to end a day of brewery hopping.
Bomber. Pours black with a light tan head that leaves a good amount of lacing. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, caramel, earthy hops, roasted malts. Taste is far more bitter than expected, but that’s not really a bad thing. Roasted caramel and bready malt, chocolate, coffee, and strong earthy hops. Long dry, bitter finish of earthy hops, roasted caramel and bready malts. Medium bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation. Decent, interesting beer. Not at all what I was expecting. Hops really help this stand out. Memorable.