Back

Black Butte Porter, named for the Black Butte (pronounced byoot, not butt) in Oregon, is a pitch black porter from Deschutes (pronounced dey-shoot) Brewery in Bend, Oregon. I've not been to Bend, but I have been to Eugene, Oregon (home of the Oregon Ducks) and it's absolutely beautiful up there. Looking at Google Maps, however, I was closer to Bend than I thought; we skied at Mount Bachelor which is just west of Bend and just north of the Deschutes National Forest. It's a goregous part of the country; if you're looking for somewhere to go besides Walt Disney World, I highly recommend it, especially in the skiing months.

On a side note, this trip was an LSU band trip and one day a small group of us went bicycling around Eugene and the University of Oregon campus. Since LSU has a live tiger mascot with a cage/habitat, we asked all the students we came across on Oregon's campus where the duck cage was. They were, shall we say, confused.

Black Butte, which I did not see when I went to Oregon, is a cinder cone butte according to Wikipedia. The source of all reliable knowledge also tells us it is an extinct volcano and rises 3,076 ft over the surrounding area. Looking at pictures, this beer is darker than the Black Butte as it is really sort of gray, but it's a good name for the beer anyway.

Black Butte Porter has a clearly chocolate scent. The taste reflects the smell, as it is also chocolaty and adds a coffee taste to balance the sweetness. It's easy to drink and certainly worth trying. This is a porter that shines upon thine meridian with the fourth level of Gondor.