United Nations of Beer

Pipeline Porter

by Matt Yee
(HI, USA)

Pipeline Porter
Kona Brewing, HI, USA
Visit the UNOB's Hawaiin Beer Guide

Pipeline Porter is Kona Brewing's latest limited edition offering, which, according to its label, is made from 100% Kona Coffee. Its packaging is beautiful, recalling the nostalgia of Duke Kahanamoku and Hawaii's Golden Era of surfing. As a graphic designer, the throwback early 1900s screenprinted poster style caught my eye. More to the point, however, it was also the first Porter offering I'd seen from Kona Brewing.

Needless to say, I was more than a bit curious about it.

Anyone who is a fan of Porters (most notably, Deschutes Black Butte Porter and Anchor Steam's Christmas brews) knows they possess a distinct burnt flavor, a platform which makes the combination of chocolate or coffee a natural choice.

While Porters share the similar charcoalish taste with Stouts, in my experience Porters are closer than Stouts to 'normal' beer, in that they tend to have a stronger carbonated presence and a slightly hoppy beer aftertaste. Stouts have that bitterness also (often to an extreme) but it doesn't quite linger on the tongue in the same way Porters tend.

The initial and middle tastes have that distinct burnt taste, with undertones of coffee. However, the one thing that struck me as odd was that it completely lacks any aftertaste. Unlike most beers where the taste lingers long after your last swig, this Porter starts strong, then rapidly diminishes near the end.

There is no aftertaste, no lingering goodness. The carbonation's also a bit too mild. And perhaps it's nitpicking, but that's sorta what I like about beer.

That said, Kona's latest offering is still good. Damn good. While I'm writing this review, I'm on my second and I'm growing to really like it. And part of it, I'm happy to say, is ironically because it lacks an aftertaste.

Unlike most good beers, if you have more than one, you have to continually clear the palette with water, or risk missing out on the flavor (it never helps that as you get drunker, you stop caring what you drink). This is especially true if you drink different beers in one session.

With Pipeline Porter, it starts off strong and flavorful and ends completely smoothly: almost like drinking juice! In some ways more of a 'girly drink' than most girly drinks, and yet offering so much more.

Newcastle Brown ale is often considered a gateway to better beer. In Hawaii, however, Newcastle bears the 'Heineken-stigma' in that once the locals try Newcastle, they don't go further than that. And that's a damn shame.

Well my friends, a new gateway beer is here! But more to the point, Pipeline Porter is not just a good entry-level beer, but one beer lovers can grow with. A good gateway beer should never be the end in itself, but the beginning of the end.