Porter Review

Lately as its gotten colder I've had a love affair with porters. I had never had one before a tour of the Summit Brewery last spring. There in the tasting room I had a fresh, cold porter that was amazing and changed my opinion of the dark beer. I'm not a stout fan, but I've found the porters I've had to be a nice mix of smoothness, hoppiness and a great blend of roasted flavors. Well I recently tried two I haven't tried before, Sierra Nevada Porter and Anchor Porter.

Sierra Nevada Porter: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Chico, CA

I liked this porter, it had a mild hoppiness and a definite roasty-coffee-cocoa flavor. It poured a very dark brown with some ruby red and a thin off-white head. It was smooth and creamy, but definitely had a nice balance of flavors including some graininess. I would drink this porter again.

Anchor Porter: Anchor Brewing Company,

San Francico, CA

This porter was recommended to me by a friend and I found it in a local store, but paid $9.29 for the six pack!! I enjoy Anchor Liberty Ale a lot as well as Anchor Steam, so I expected this to be good. It pours a dark mahogany-chocolaty color with a thick tan head. There is a heavy floral aroma from the hops used. It lacks some of the malitness and roastiness of other porters I've tried. The presence is there, but not really strong. It is smooth and easy to drink, but I was expecting more. I like it, but I'd probably spend the $6.99 for Summit Great Northern Porter or the $7.99 for Sierra Nevada first. I think its a good beer, but lacks some of what I was looking for in a porter. I think that use of some citrusy west coast hops, like Cascade maybe, gives it a unique flavor and aroma.

I didn't get a chance to buy a six pack of Summit's Great Northern Porter for this review, but that will be coming soon. Also, I recently had a bottle of St. Paul's Flat Earth Brewing company's first bottle release, their Belgian Pale Ale. I'll comment on that soon as well.

-The Bearded Brewer