Robust Porter - Tasting

I brewed up a Robust Porter back in October and I've been drinking it for the last month and a half or so.  It is rated as one of the top recipes on homebrewtalk.com.  After drinking about a case of it I think that is warranted.  I would recommend this recipe pretty highly.

This is a style that I hadn't tried before.  Per the BJCP, a Robust Porter "may be distinguished from Stout as lacking a strong roasted barley character."  So, the difference comes down to how "strong" the roast barley character is.  Quite a bit of wiggle room there which sort of implies that there's not really any clear cut difference between a Porter and Stout.  Either way, I think this beer, while it is roasty, is roasty in a fairly restrained way such that other characteristics of the malt to come through.  It makes for a fairly easy drinking beer with a good level of complexity.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Roast along with dark chocolate and gram cracker.  Has a subtle fruit character mixed in as it warms.  Maybe a bit of grassy hops but it is way in the background.  The aroma is fairly strong and overall pretty pleasant.
• Appearance:
• Pours with a two finger head.  Foam lasts for several minutes before settling down to a thin layer on the top of the beer.  The beer is a very deep brown.  From the light coming through the edges it looks like it is pretty clear.
• Flavor:
• Roast malt flavor dominates but there is a good bit of dark chocolate and a caramel flavor.  There is a sweetness to the beer and the malt flavor meld together nicely.  There is a slight bitterness to the finish but the balance is strongly towards the roast malt.  There is a bit of alcohol in the flavor along with some subtle fruity yeast character.
• Mouthfeel:
• The beer is medium bodied.  Has some light astringency.  The carbonation is low.
• Overall:
• The beer has some fairly bold flavors and a nice level of complexity.  The level of roast character is pleasant - it dominates but doesn't completely overshadow the other aspects of the beer.  Credit goes to the author of this recipe for striking a good balance.  From a technical perspective, I think the beer is a product of a well handled fermentation and packaging effort  with the nice yeast character and nice carbonation levels (which have been hit and miss for me).