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Beer Review: Left Hand Brewing Company Death Before Disco Porter

So let's start out with the positives, this has all the things one might expect from a porter. Dark, substantive without being overly heavy, some rich chocolate flavors thrown in to boot including those fruity flavors you get with dark chocolate.
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Left Hand Brewing Company Death Before Disco (Photo by Longmont Observer)

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Left Hand Brewing Company

Death Before Disco Porter

Canned

6.0% ABV

24 IBU

3.0/5.0 (Ice Cold)

1.5/5.0 (Above 50°F)

So let's start out with the positives, this has all the things one might expect from a porter.  Dark, substantive without being overly heavy, some rich chocolate flavors thrown in to boot including those fruity flavors you get with dark chocolate.

Then there's how the beer finishes which I find unpleasant. The after taste is that of the after taste of beets. Not the yummy sweat part of eating a beet. Not the earthy part that makes one think of rich soil. No, I'm talking about how a beet finishes, that after taste that hangs out in the back of the mouth.

I've seen this flavor used successfully with sweeter or sour palates, but it does not meld well with what I would consider "Essence De Porter." This beet after taste is not overwhelming when the beer is cold allowing more of the chocolate flavors to linger unhindered. Allow the beer to warm and that beet after-flavor claws for your attention at the end of every sip. The aftertaste distracts from what one might consider a perfectly acceptable porter. Usually, I wouldn't bring it up, but this was in a can... even with a koozie, your time for this beer to be enjoyable is limited.

Beer Review Scale:

0/5 Not fit for man nor beast

0.5/5 Have I wronged you somehow that you would offer this to me?

1/5 Not enjoyable

2/5 Drinkable (The base line.  Where one does not cringe upon tasting it)

3/5 A decent beverage.

4/5 A very good beverage that I am willing to spend my money to drink.

4.5/5 Sweet nectar

5/5 …