James Squire Jack of Spades Porter
James Squire Porter is a beer of finesse. Its relationship to stout is evident in a rich, deep colour that is less opaque and unveils window panes of ruby mahogany.Unlike stout, it has more delicate complexity. Roasted barley andwheat, subtle hoppings and long maturation create hints of bitter malt chocolate and pillowy head.
3.3
243 reviews
Sydney, Australia
Community reviews
On tap at The Charming Squire, pours a deep dark brown with a reddish tinge and a small beige head. Aroma brings out soy sauce and light toasted malt. Flavour is similar, with dry toasted malt and light soy sauce notes. Boring but clean, despite the soy sauce.
Along with Yves at his home black colored body with an off white head and a roasted malt aroma with a sweet fruity malt hop bitter taste and a bitter finish
Shared with wim at my home. Black colored beer with large diminishing brown head and no carbonation visible. Malty roasted aroma. Full sparkling palate. Finish is bitter roasted malty sweet.
On Tap at Charming Squire, Brisbane on 9th September 2015. Black with creamy off-white foam and partial lacing. Mildly roasty aroma. Citrus, roastiness and touches of smoke in-mouth. A short, roasty finish becoming fruity and slightly smoky. Zingy mouthfeel and medium body.
Out of a bottle in the outback. Good smokey malted flavor, but too carbonated for my palate.
On tap. Schooner glass. Probably served a tad too cold. Malty aroma, which matches the flavour. Very dark brown, fairly well carbonated and 1/2 finger stable head. Taste was mostly held back at the front of the mouth due to the carbonation, but ended on a nice malty mocha finish.
I ordered a second because I did enjoy it quite a lot. Will be interesting to see if the bottle is as good.
Re-rate, aroma slight dark chocolate and raisin,nice creamy diminishing head, good carbonation balance, not complex just a consistent and smooth journey through the mouth. I am still learning to appreciate dark beer as even the slightest roasted characteristics takes it into a different category of beer. Normally that "burnt" taste with food anyway I associate with a cake left in the oven for long for example. Though I think that this would complement certain foods such as tacos, or blue cheese. I don’t see dark ale as sessionable yet. Would need a few pales in between.
345ml bottle into glass. Mild chocolate nose. Ruby red beer with small off-white head. Light spritzy mouthfeel leads to a hint of chocolate in the finish. A lesser cousin of Tooheys Old.
345ml bottle. This is a solid porter that doesn’t lack anything, but it also isn’t outstanding in any way.
345ml bottle
Dark brown body, off-tan head persists.
Decent nose, mild roast, toasted nuts, touch of burnt sugar.
Medium to full body, restrained carbonation, drying texture.
Body has plenty to offer - burnt nutty malts, some dark sugar notes and underlying earthy hop. Lifted bitterness, dry lingering finish.
Solid porter. Great every level example.
Tap. Black, tan foam, medium sweetness, medium bitterness, medium body, oily feel, soft carbonation, & bitter finish.
Very malty aroma. Very dark black colour with good head. Nice coffee and chocolate flavour with long aftertaste. Heavy body with good warmth and low carbonation.
345 mil bottle roasted malt aroma black as a dogs guys tan head taste is good roasted malts good stuff
On tap at the brewhouse. Jet black colour with a foamy tan head. Appearance resembles espresso. Sweet caramel and roasted nut/malt aromas. Flavour is pleasant with a chocolate and coffee finish. Moderate hop usage making this very easy drinking. Lacks a punch to finish, which again, makes this sessionable
Bottle. Poors a tar black colour.
Aroma. A creamy coffee aroma.
Taste. A creamy smoothness, with hints of coffee nuts and unsweetened cocoa.
Overall. A real treat and one of the better beers in the James Squire Range.
Tap at belgian beer cafe, brisbane. Black colo, hint of red. Aroma is roasty, coffee, not too strong. Roasty and coffee taste, some chocolate, medium body.
Pours a dark colour with a foamy tan head. Caramel, coffee and nuts in the aroma, with nuts most present. Flavour is earthy, nuts and some caramel in the finish. Not that sweet like many other porters can be, which suits my palate well. Medium body with soft carbonation. A good beer indeed!
Mild coffee aroma with a burnt toffee flavour, pretty good beer, not the best but well worth a try.
Bottle 345 ml thanks to Dallas (not on ratebeer)!
On July 19, 2013.
BB 13 June 2014.
Dark ruby red color, fluffy brown head that leaves lacings. Sweet, malty, toffee scent. Sweet, toffee, roasted taste. Smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness.
Sydney Harbor with the family in tow. Not the best of porters but it’ll do in a pinch.
Draught at Charming Squire, Brisbane. Poured an opaque black with a slight mahogany edge tint and a thin light tan foamy head that diminished slowly to a collar that laced OK. Aroma strongly of chocolate. Taste of sweet caramel, roasted grain and chocolate. Light body, a bit thin. Smooth and slightly creamy with a short moderately bitter finish. OK. 5/8/2013 (stubbie) Poured an opaque black colour with a brown tint around the edges. Developed a one-finger beige coloured head that diminished slowly and laced OK. Aroma of molasses, subtle malt, and a trace of coffee. Taste has a sweet profile of malt followed by roasted grain. Light body and a bit watery. Smooth, soft, slightly sweet, somewhat bland finish. Ordinary.
Pours a dark brown with a bit of tan head. Nose is coffee and burnt notes. Taste is pretty sweet, with some coffee, marmalade and some more burnt notes. Not bad, but slightly watery.
Virtually black with just a tinge of brown. No head whatsoever making it a very unattractive beer. Subtle aromas of chocolate and roasted malt. Initially watery mouthfeel, however a nice chocolate flavour develops. This moves into a tinge of bitterness on the mid palate and then a sweet chocolate (perhaps slightly too sweet) and roasted malt finish. The flavours lack depth, but do linger. A decent porter without being exciting
Black colour with a tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee and some cigarette smoke. Taste of coffee, roasted malt. Dry aftertaste with a hint of chocolate. A little watery feeling but still okay.
Black pour, thin head clears quickly, looks like a coke. Aroma of coffee, cocoa, toffee. Similar taste, slightly sweet with biscuit, dark chocolate, coffee, roasted grain. Pretty good
Black Kent, black as the ace of spades..... aroma is actually quite thin (although that could be because I have hayfever). Light coffee, it’s not bad but certainly are better.
Aroma bread and burnt rye (but in a good way); appearance is uniformly black with tinges of brown at the very edges; head is slightly tan, no sign of lace; taste is pleasant, a touch earthy and sweet moving on to a mildly bitter and smokey palate, but some roasted malty sweetness hangs around the longest. Overall, a pretty nice porter, not overpowering, and not boring either (but only just).
There’s a disappointingly brief head on this, but the aroma is like a having a caramel crown with an espresso - chocolate, caramel and loads of biscuit and coffee. There’s more of that biscuit flavour in the mouth with some chocolate and coffee in the middle of the tongue and a little hops on the sides. The only knock on this beer is that the palate is a little thin.
On tap at the Portland Brewhouse. Served a mahogany color with a good tan head that fades slowly to nice lacing. Aroma of roasted malt, some chocolate with a bit of coffee and a trace. Tatse of roasted malt, dark chocolate with a bit of coffee. Nice bitterness and a dry finish. Medium body, smooth and quite creamy. Nice balance. Very drinkable beer. Nice take on the style.
It MUST have been a delicious porter, but this was in Cairns, where most pubs serve lousy beer, so freezin’ cold that you do not have to feel the flavor. They did the same with this porter. A glass out of the freezer. Beautiful porter, with a great colour and a subtle aroma of roasted malts and a touch of chocolate. The flavour, whatever I could taste from behind the nothingness of the amost freezing beer, was chocolaty, toasty and fruity. I will try a proper serving one day, and renew my rating. I’m sure it must have been a great beer.