Third Wheel Brewing releasing Saint Peters’ Porter coffee variant

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As beer drinkers and beer lovers, we all have our favorite brews to consume. But what about the fine men and women who brew our favorite beers? Do they have favorites they love to drink and brew? They do.

At Third Wheel Brewing in St. Peters, one of the staff’s favorite beers is about to return. Saint Peters’ Porter with Coffee. This new variant will be released on October 9th in the taproom, located at 4008 N Service Road.

The BeerOgraphy

Saint Peters’ Porter was actually one of head brewer Abbey Spencers’ first homebrew recipes. It was originally inspired by Founders Porter, a lovely, chocolatey, smooth delicious Robust Porter. Over the years, it has gone through many changes to reach what it is today. “We originally wanted to make a dark beer that didn’t have as much coffee and burnt flavors as a stout, but still had a kick of alcohol and sweetness,” said Spencer. “We received several homebrew awards over the years for the beer, and we were excited to scale up on a professional system at Third Wheel.”

Why A Porter?

The Porter is a great style for a coffee addition, and Third Wheel chose to release the coffee variant as the weather starts to cool and dark beers are sought after. Spencer and her team use St. Peters’ Porter as the base, and then cold steep freshly ground coffee from La Cosecha Coffee Roasters (Maplewood, MO) on the finished beer.

“I find that most coffee beers are stouts, and I think the Porter is slightly better suited for the coffee addition,” said Spencer. “Since the bitterness and coffee flavors are already slightly lower than a stout might have, the coffee creates a perfect blend of bakers chocolate and dark caramel notes from the malts with the more bitter, robust flavor of the coffee we use. Also, our Porter is a little more “robust,” coming in just shy of 7% ABV. It’s everything you want once the cooler temperatures start rolling in.”

A public favorite too

The base beer, St. Peters Porter, is one of the best beers Third Wheel produces and you have to have a great base beer before you start adding extra ingredients. It is also a very well balanced beer, and I think most beer drinkers are looking for some kind of balance.

“I think a lot of people that might not try a coffee beer took a harder look when we started releasing the coffee mugs with the beer,” said Spencer. “It is such a fun concept – serving coffee beer in a coffee mug. It brings a whole new experience to tasting the beer, and I think it almost creates a sense of familiarity with the beer for those that might be nervous about darker brews.”

The Coffee

The coffee used in the beer changes year to year. They typically use a lighter roast that has a strong fruity flavor. “It has been fun learning experience for me to taste coffees from different parts of the world that express different fruit, herb, spice or earthy notes,” said Spencer. “Just like beer or wine, coffee has it’s own terroir that is influenced by the region in which it grew. I never knew coffee could taste like oranges and pears, but my eyes have been opened!”

Tasting Notes:

On The Pour: Opaque dark brown, almost black, tan, creamy persistent foam.

On The Nose: First, you’ll smell coffee, but as the beer warms, you’ll get notes of dark chocolate, burnt caramel, and mild hints of dark fruits. There is a slightly earthy aroma from the hops as well.

On The Tongue: This one has such a complex flavor! Coffee is definitely present, but it doesn’t overpower the rest of the beer. The coffee flavor is like a slightly sweetened coffee, with some notes of bakers chocolate, toffee, and finishes with a mild coffee bitterness mixed with mild earthy flavors.