Pull a pint of porter

Ask five beer geeks about porters and you might get five different answers. They will probably tell you there are brown, mild, robust, Baltic and imperial porters, each with their own nuances. This isn't even including the broader American and English styles. I'm going to try and steer clear from being that pedantic for the time being. Sometimes a beer is just a beer and a cigar is just something you smoke to look cool.

Originally from England, porters began as a hodgepodge of brown and darker colored ales with stronger, maltier tastes than the norm. Their name comes from the workers, porters, who were very fond of the beer. Since then, they have evolved into the many different styles and flavors we know and love.

A lot of this can be accredited to American brewers, who have taken the idea and the flavors and brought them to whole new levels. Smoked porters, raspberry porters, imperial porters, hoppy porters; all examples of American ingenuity. The porter itself can be viewed as a partner for other flavors, in the same way that chocolate can cover almost any food and make it more interesting. Or bacon; you can pretty much wrap anything in bacon, which is also an American ingenuity.

So what do these things taste like anyway? And what makes them any different from a stout? Well, aside from ingredients used, porters are less burnt and roasty than stouts and are generally a little sweeter and a little less bitter (which probably seems redundant). They cover a broad range of flavors, including caramel, toffee, chocolate, malt and coffee, depending on what the brewer decides. If you like stouts, but dislike the burnt, acrid flavors you might like these.

They are medium to full bodied beers and generally range from 4-6% abv. The hop flavor and aroma will generally be low and subtle. The bitterness is just enough to let some sweetness slip through and prevent the beer from being too sweet or cloying. They will be light to dark brown to black, but porters are generally never pitch black and you can usually see some hints of red shine through the edges.

Now for some actual beers!

Out of all the porters I've tried recently, Smuttynose Robust Porter stands out very clearly. It's an excellent example of a robust porter and has flavors much more intense than most of the porters you'll find in stores. It balances a great mix of lightly floral hops with chocolate, toffee and coffee, and this is just in the aroma.

But this is one of those beers that just tastes exactly like it smells, with a smooth caramel taste to balance the bitter chocolate. It also has a burnt, nutty taste and some hints of earthy hops. The body on this beer is full and supportive of all those flavors.

Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter is closer to an English porter and is a little less intense than Smuttynose. The aroma and appearance are a little closer to a stout, with strong burnt coffee and roasted grain scents. The flavor however is a bit different. The malt and caramel flavors are a little stronger in this beer and the roasted grains take more of a backseat.

This is a very clear cut beer, and the flavor can almost be described as ìshortî, as it doesn't linger in your mouth. The body is a little light, but I mean a tiny bit light. The after taste is like gentle chocolate. A terrific beer, this is the one I'd recommend for session drinking.

Flying Dog's Road Dog Porter takes a different approach than the last two. It contains more hop flavor and aroma and is almost devoid of any roasted malt. No burnt chocolate and coffee tastes here, this beer is like drinking caramel and malt.

There are slight hints of roasted character, but it was used lightly and possibly more for the coloring of the beer, so it's a touch sweeter than the last two. By no means is it a ìsweetî beer though. I would recommend this beer if you aren't looking for coffee in your porter.

I'm going to take a quick detour here and just say I love Flying Dog's labels. All you Hunter S. Thompson fans are going to die once you pickup one of these bottles.

One last thing, please don't buy Michelob's porter. I would feel badly if someone went out and got that after reading this. I'd probably have to carry a baseball bat around campus for the next 6 months.

Until next time, cheers!

Tom Goodwin 2/27/09