Black Butte Porter

Review Date 4/22/2005   Last Updated 7/7/2020 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Porter   Brewery: Deschutes   Country: USA   State: Oregon   $ Per OZ: $.13 (B), $.30 (D), $.16 (G)   ABV: 5.2%

I kind of feel bad for Black Butte Porter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful little brown porter, and I really love it. But I think it falls victim to the middle child syndrome, if you will. It gets overlooked and falls into the shadow of its more celebrated sibling, Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale.

In my mind, Black Butte Porter is every bit as good as Mirror Pond. Of course, I can’t think of a bad brew I’ve had from Deschutes, so there you go. Still, this is a beer I would love to have as a staple in my DBR (Dedicated Beer Refrigerator). Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see Deschutes brews anywhere along the East coast yet, though that doesn’t mean they aren’t out here. I had no trouble, however, finding their beers in Seattle.

Deschutes is located in Bend, Oregon. The company has been brewing since 1988 and takes its name from a nearby river. My first taste of this beer came in 1996, and I was immediately impressed by it. And with good reason. Black Butte Porter has won numerous awards. Among the most prestigious were a Gold in 1996 and a Bronze in 1998 and 2002 at the Great American Beer Festival, all in the Brown Porter category.

Brown porters are generally a bit softer than the other major porter style, robust porter. The latter tends to have a more robust roasty character and perhaps more hops in the finish. I think Black Butte almost straddles the line between the two styles, but it is probably closer to a brown porter.

Deschutes Black Butte Porter pours to a jet black color with a thick creamy tan head formation and a roasty, sinfully coffeeish nose. A thick layer of Brussels lace clings to the side of your glass all the way to the last sip. Black Butte is medium in body, with a good dose of roastiness and notes of coffee and chocolate pudding.

In the finish, a drying grassy hop character emerges and makes its presence strongly felt against the light roastiness. The hops leave a gentle lingering buzz on the tongue. That gives the beer good balance and a definite high degree of drinkability. I know I could drink glass after glass without a problem.

If you can find it, don’t pass it up. Black Butte is a real treat and a true prince among porters. 

Update 7/7/2020: Well hello, old friend! It's been a while since I have enjoyed a Black Butte Porter, as it hasn't been sold here in Georgia in the two decades I have lived here; nor have I seen it in any of my travels. So, when I saw it available on Craftshack.com, I added it to my cart. My impression of this may have been a brown porter 15 years ago, but that is not the case today. My bottle was rich and roasty from start to finish, with a delightful dark chocolate character and a smooth satisfying body. Alcohol content is 5.2% by volume with 30 IBUs. Total Wine sells it (but not in Georgia) for $9.49 a six-pack. My bottle was packaged on 02/19/20.

Deschutes says:

This is the beer that started it all. A rich, creamy mouthfeel complements a layered depth, revealing distinctive chocolate and coffee notes. Full of flavor, yet easy to drink.

They cite the following ingredients:

Malt Pale, Carapils, Chocolate, Crystal, Wheat
Hops Cascade, Bravo, Tettnang

Update 9/19/2021: How about draft Black Butte? I had it for the first time ever (I think, I might have ha done in Seattle in the aughts). It was at Taco Mac on May 12th. How about draft Black Butte at home? I enjoyed a crowler from Stout's on September 19th on a football Sunday. Obscenely good in the crowler, roasty, hint of licorice, cocoa powder, bitter roasty finish. Deschutes just keeps getting better and better! The beer was reasonable both ways, $6.80 for a 23-ounce mug at Taco Mac and $10.49 for my crowler from Stout's.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??