Saranac Caramel Porter
Saranac Caramel Porter is a robust, flavorful porter reminiscent of a by-gone era. True to brewing tradition, we've used dark caramel malt as well as Fuggles & East Kent Goldings hops for a smooth, yet slightly bitter, roasted flavor. Look for hints of real caramel used in brewing this delicious brew. Enjoy.
3
536 reviews
Utica, United States
Community reviews
Bottle pour into tulip glass. Aroma is strong caramel, also roasted malt. Appearance is dark mahogany with finger-width off-white head that quickly dissipates, fair lacing, and no sparkle. Taste is strong, rich, dark caramel with moderate sweetness balanced with mild bitter finish. Palate is medium bodied with thin texture, average to lively carbonation and dry finish. Overall, the caramel is so strong that it drowns out any other flavors. Not bad, but not subtle either.
Where’s the Caramel? Where’s the porter for that matter. This seems to be a medium brown ale with a little extra coloring to disguise it as a porter.
Aroma is vegetable. Dark brown color, small white head. Taste is grass, veggie. Something like raisin in the finish. Low carb.
Poured nicely into a glass. Has a nice brown color. Aroma is one of the beers best features. Too much of an artificial taste.
12 oz bottle compliments of Phatdog1. Poured a clear translucent brown with a beige head. Taste of straight up caramel with a faint malt backbone. Medium carbonation, medium body. Great for the hardcore caramel enthusiast, apparently that’s not me.
12oz bottle, can definitely taste the carmelized sugar, hint of chocolate. A little thin tasting overall for a porter, but Ok.
Oddly enough this one was a bit of a white whale for me. Anyway, it pours a very dark brown with a light brown head. Lots of caramel in the nose. Papery on the tongue. Sweet with plenty of caramel and a slight, non-descript bitterness that doesn’t really help round things out. Well, at least I tried it.
Bottle - Pours mahogany with a ring of light tan head. Nose is caramel vanilla, sweet with lots of dark bread malt. Taste is lots of caramel, vanilla, hazelnut, and dark bread. Medium-thin body with high carbonation. Super caramel-forward and sweet, but okay in small doses.
12 oz bottle. Didn’t really care for the bitterness --- would have been better to err on the sweet side. The ’real’ caramel flavor did not come through for me.
It pours dark brown with a deep red hue. The head is small tan in color and it makes some slick lace. It has a sweet aroma of caramel covered white bread. The flavor is simple and dominated by a heavy does of sweet caramel over some much lighter toasted bready malt notes. The flavor is almost candy like and fades slowly into the finish. Its palate is medium bodied and silky smooth. Overall its note bad but its one that I couldn’t see myself drinking more than one.
(Bottle). Perhaps last seasons vintage but this one fell short of average. Flavor was flat and stale with no resemblance to a porter.
Transfer from BA review on 4-12-12-
Poured from bottle into pint glass
Appearance – Pours a deep brown color with a large tan head. The head had a moderate amount of persistent but eventually faded giving a medium level of lacing.
Smell – Carmel is quite potent in the nose. There is a butteriness as well giving a mix of toffee in with the caramel. Some vanilla notes are also present with an ever so light roasted malt aroma as well. Overall the nose is quite sweet and nice.
Taste – While the nose was very heavy in caramel, the initial taste was not. It was largely of more roasted malt. As the taste advance however, a caramel taste became more and more prevalent; intensifying throughout the taste experience. Toward the end, the caramel is quite strong and mixes with some vanilla.
Mouthfeel – The beer is quite weak in body for the style with a bit of a higher then average level of carbonation. These two characteristics really hurt this brew. The weak body does not meld well with experiencing some of the more roasty flavors that complement the caramel sweet well. Also the carbonation level is a bit too high for this style and pulls away from some of the flavors even more.
Overall – The smell of the beer is fantastic, the taste good, but the mouthfeel was a hit to the overall quality of the beer. While the mouthfeel is not the greatest, for the price you pay it is not a bad beer and one that is well worth a try.
Pours very thin dark brown color with a light head. Little aroma, mostly a bit of malt and caramel. Chocolate and caramel flavors in the front with a bit of a lingering sweet aftertaste, watery thickness takes away from the beer.
Disgusting! Thin, bitter, off putting chocolate/caramel flavors. Honestly the worst porter I’ve ever had.
Pours mahogany into a Sam glass. Pancake head with good retention recedes leaving spot lacing. Sour toffee aromas. Dry with sweet caramel and toffee upfront turning to sourdough before the lasting roasted nut and earthy hop finish.
Twelve ounce bottle from Delhi Walgreens, tasted on December 12, 2013. Very dark--almost opaque brown color, strong caramel aroma undercut by a bleach-like smell, flavor of caramel followed by a sour blast and bitter finish. Maybe this was a little old. If it wasn’t, then certainly not to my taste--this might be worth trying if your taste is very different from mine, or if you can’t get enough caramel.
12oz bottle. Pours a dark reddish brown with an off white head. Aroma is caramel. Flavor is butterscotch candy with artificial sweetener. Closer to a cream soda than a beer. Not a big fan of this one.
Despite other reviews, I found this to be one of my favorite "drinkable" beers of the season. Smells like caramel. Taste like caremel. Whether or not the smell and/or taste are artificial, I don’t care. Guess I’m "naive". If you love caramel you will love this beer.
This has a strong carmel aroma but very little flavor of it. More like a brown ale than a porter.
Very heavy on the Carmel.
Draft. Pours dark brown with creamy beige head. Aroma is heavy caramel notes that smells strangely of creme brulee and cheap caramel candy. Light roasted malts and plum notes. Flavor is chewy malts, dark fruit esters, caramel sweetness, and light roast with a semi-sweet finish. Medium body and carbonation.
Tap. Pours dark brown with creamy beige head. Aroma is heavy caramel notes somewhere in between creme brulee and cheap caramel candy, light roasted malts, and plums. Flavor is chewy malts, dark fruit esters, caramel sweetness, and light roast; semi-sweet finish. Medium body and carbonation.
Bottle. Dark amber, brown. Little, tan head. Yes, aroma is caramel and the taste is caramel but not overpowering.
From bottle. Caramel aroma with a hint of chocolate. Taste is caramel, toffee, and more caramel. Caramel over powers. A little thin but goes down easy. Ok. A bit to sweet.
This was the first beer I ever had to spit out. The caramel is sickening and barely tasted like caramel, more like a syrup.
A: Dark Brown/Reddish hue, mild White Head, and almost no lacing.
S: Overly Sweet Caramel, mild Chocolate
T: Sweet Caramel
M: Mediocre Carbonation, Light to Medium Bodied, Sweet Aftertaste
Overall, WAY TOO MUCH CARAMEL...almost fake taste.
November 2011. From bottle. Average and a bit on the boring side. Dark brown with a tan head. Malty aromas with caramel, chocolate and dark fruit. Drinkable, but not exciting.
12 ounce bottle. Pours reddish brown with a small biege head. Aroma of caramel and malt. Taste is caramel, malt, chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. A bit different.
Appearance: Pours a fluffy 2” off white head recedes slowly leaving faint lacing. Color is deep ruby red but mostly opaque, moderate carbonation bubbles visible.
Aroma: if you like caramel you should love the smell of this beer. Aroma is exactly like Brach’s caramel cubes with some toasted barley malt and earthy hop in the background.
Mouthfeel: Fairly light and watery, especially for the style. Finish is dry.
Flavor: caramel dominates along with licorice, toasted bread, mild hop presence
Overall: This is a good beer. Not outstanding but nothing here really excites me. Most memorable aspect is the caramel which I have never found more intense in any other beer. I love caramel, but in this beer it could use a little balance.
From bottle to pint glass. Aroma of caramel syrup. Pours a clear chestnut brown with ivory head that fades quickly. Taste is slick, caramel and cola. Sweet malt at the end and a dry finish. Mouthfeel is very thin.
12oz bottle in an English pint. Pours brown with a beige head. Aroma of caramel, chocolate and caramel malts, light hops, and some dough. Flavor the same with a lot of caramel. Average texture. Interesting but not the best porter.