Dead Reckoning Porter

Yet another rock solid Pennsylvania brewery, Harrisburg’s Troegs Brewing Company has captivated beer drinkers across the country with its distinctive, easily recognizable beers. This time Troegs checks in with Dead Reckoning, its tasty porter. Radiating notes of sweet chocolate and acrid black malt, the aroma carries a firm underpinning of biscuity malt, and the merest whiff of earthy hops. Pete found a cornucopia of fruit lurking beneath the roasty aromas, picking out “ripe figs, dates, and black currant,” and praised their seamless integration into a “harmonious whole.” Tim focused on the complex malt character, commenting on the subtle interplay between the “seductive, warm chocolate and enticing black malt.” Dead Reckoning pours a deep mahogany, pierced by garnet flashes, all crowned by a fine beige head. Following the aroma’s lead, this beer’s flavor is rife with cocoa, caramel, and dark roast coffee, all balanced against firm hop bitterness. Tom found the bittering subdued, noting the beer “falls just short of sweet,” and felt the beer lacked the roast malt notes of a classic Robust Porter. Rick enjoyed the “bittersweet chocolate punch” and, like Tom, wanted a touch more bittering hops to bring everything home. The beer’s chocolaty complexity and slightly husky graininess in the finish pleasantly surprised Rick, who found it a decidedly “quaffable” brew. A versatile beer, Dead Reckoning Porter will satisfy any discerning beer lover.