Feb 26, 2014

Foothills Brewing People’s Porter

In past years, I’ve only been able to get a hold of Foothills Brewing products (Hoppyum and Cottonwood Endo) on visits to The Outer Banks. Now that the brewery is distributing to the northern Virginia region, it’s become much easier to snag a few bottles to sample.

After thoroughly enjoying several six packs of Hoppyum over the past few months, I decided to see how the company did with the darker stuff. People’s Porter is a 5.8% ABV (42 IBU) English-style porter with a welcome earthy character that shows Foothills knows how to do more than just hops. I’ve enjoyed a couple of bottles of People’s Porter during the recent cold spells the area has been plagued by. It’s a solid porter with good flavor and drinkability, but it hasn’t usurped Hoppyum as my go to brew from the company just yet.

Appearance

People’s Porter pours a dark chestnut brown with a rocky stack of light brown foam that left behind decent lacing as it dropped.

Foothills Brewing People's Porter photo

Aroma

Earth, coffee, a soft roast, distant chocolate, grain and bread fill the nose smoothly.

Taste

There’s nothing wrong with a straightforward porter and that’s exactly what we’ve got here with Foothills robust brew. Dark coffee, light cocoa, earth and grain dominate the flavor. There’s a bit of black coffee astringency and hop bitterness that lingers for a bit in the drying finish. I’d personally like the porter to be a bit fuller on the palate, but that’s just a personal preference.

Overall

People’s Porter is a tasty brew. It’s not the most robust porter I’ve had, but it drinks well and has a nice earthy quality that I can get behind. This won’t be the last time I have this beer, but when on a budget, I think I’d still pick up a sixer of Hoppyum first.

Rating: 3.5/5

More: ,