Tag Archives: porter

Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter

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Beer-a-Day #325 Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter

In the 14th Century, Sailors would rely on sheer skill to get from a starting point to a final destination.  They called this Dead Reckoning.  We see our beer the same way.  We know where to begin and know where to go, but there are hundreds of ways to get there.

Dead Reckoning is unfiltered and weighs in at 5.8% abv and 53 IBU’s. It features Pilsner, Caramel, Chocolate and Roasted malts along with Chinook and Vanguard hops. “The outstanding taste and flavor of Dead Reckoning originates in the chocolate and roasted malts,” says John Trogner. “There is a nice hoppiness in the front of the beer, followed with a rich, smooth cocoa mouth feel.”

Very dark and nearly opaque. Beige head is a finger thick and rugged. Chocolate and roast coffee; smells rich. Nice roasted flavor with a hefty yet mellow bitterness. When I think of a porter that’s pretty much what I’m looking for. Delicious.

Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter

Flying Dog Road Dog Porter

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Beer-a-Day #255Road Dog

GonzoFest today. More on that later. In the meantime…

Blessed by Hunter S. Thompson… Road Dog Porter was our first beer to be illustrated by Ralph Steadman. This is a dark, rich and malty beer, with hints of chocolate and licorice resulting from the use of four prized malts. We also defended Road Dog’s honor when the Colorado state liquor board tried to ban us from selling it because “Good Beer, No Shit” was on the label. It took 5 years, but we won.

Deep chocolate brown with a finger’s worth of tan head. Definitely some chocolate and licorice, with a bit of perfume. Deep, rich flavor. This is good stuff.

Flying Dog Road Dog Porter

Smoky Mountain Tuckaleechee Porter

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Beer-a-Day #111

The sixth and last (*sigh*) beer from Smoky Mountain Brewery brought to me by my good friend Ellen.

Very dark brown and nearly opaque in the glass. Not much head, which is a creamy brown color. Roastiness and a lot of chocolate in the aroma. The flavor reverses it, with a bit of chocolate and a lot of roastiness. I like it.

Thanks Ellen!

Ron on Porter

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I cracked open my bottle of Rogue Imperial Porter and served it with my NY Strip Steak smothered in caramelized onions & mushrooms. I had purchased this beer as part of my search for a favorite porter. Recently I noted that Victory’s Storm King Stout was closer to the porter I am seeking than any other porter I’ve tried (from a bottle).  Rogue is one of my favorite craft brewers and I was hoping that at $15 a bottle, this would be the one.

But it wasn’t.rogue-imperial-porter

Once again, the primary flavor characteristic came from roasted/burnt barley. You CANNOT taste any malt sweetness behind the charcoal and it ruins what ever hop presence is there. This harsh bitterness is not what I’m looking for in a porter. From Rogue…

This is a huge mouthful of malt and hops. It has notes of bitter rich chocolate and hints of tar. A new hop called Summit was used to give it the perfect hop balance. This porter is the creme de la creme.

I started thinking to myself, I must be wrong, even though we already established that I can’t. Maybe I’m just misinformed… so I decided to look it up.

Robust Porter
Robust porters are black in color and have a roast malt flavor but no roast barley flavor. These porters have a sharp bitterness of black malt without a highly burnt/charcoal flavor. Robust porters range from medium to full in body and have a malty sweetness. Hop bitterness is medium to high, with hop aroma and flavor ranging from negligible to medium. Diacetyl is not acceptable. Fruity esters should be evident, balanced with roast malt and hop bitterness.

Brown Porter
Brown porters are mid to dark brown (may have red tint) in color. No roast barley or strong burnt/black malt character should be perceived. Low to medium malt sweetness is acceptable along with medium hop bitterness. This is a light to medium-bodied beer. Fruity esters are acceptable. Hop flavor and aroma may vary from being negligible to medium in character.

So I’m not misinformed, either.

Now, you can’t be wrong either… you might like this.  You might like to just add some ash from the fireplace, too. Why don’t you add some smoke flavor to it while you are at it. (Check back for my review of Stone’s Smoked Porter for the upcoming Session.)

I don’t like it. I like it bitter from hops and from dark malt, but it still must primarily taste like beer.

Rogue Imperial Porter is not a bad beer. The body, lacing, aroma and quality is top notch; I just don’t love whatever style of beer this is. And Rogue is not the only one.

Better people…better food…and better beer…

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You may have surmised that Ron and I are huge Rush fans. I haven’t missed a tour since I first saw them in 1986. They were also a major part of the Best. Day. Ever.

Imagine my glee, then, when I found out that Flat Earth Brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota is making a beer named after a Rush song.

Cygnus X-1 Porter

This robust English style porter has an add [sic] twist, rye. Rye is used in making Canadian whiskey. It was created as a tribute to our favorite band – Rush. Cygnus X-1 has a creamy mocha chocolate flavor with a hint of spice. It has a slightly dry finish leaving you wanting more. English hops balance out this 6.5% ABV beer.
Now Available year round!

Anybody travelling out that way anytime soon who could score me a bomber?

[Edit by Ron]ME TOO!

(via Cygnus-X1.net)

The St. George Brewing Company – Porter

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“Honey? I was in the liquor store and I saw this beer that I’ve never seen before, so I got you some.”

How can you not love a wife like that?

What she got me was the Porter from The St. George Brewing Company in Hampton, Virginia. Cool! Something local. I don’t know anything about them, so I went into it with absolutely no preconceptions.

St. George Brewing Company PorterIt pours a nice deep brown with some ruby highlights. The perfect two-fingers-width head is medium tan and has staying power. The aroma is slightly nutty and roasted malt, which comes out more as it warms. I also detect a hint of something more vegetable-y. Lemongrass?

It’s got a nice medium to full body, with plenty more of that roasted malt as well as some coffee and more nuttiness.

Here’s what they have to say about it:

Style: London Porter
Desc: full body, ruby black, very strong malt character, medium chocolate, slight coffee flavor, low perceived bitterness, well balanced, low – medium carbonation

When I think of a porter, this is precisely what I have in mind.

According to their website, they only distribute to the mid-Atlantic states (VA, MD, DE, NC, SC, DC). I guess they’re more “local” than I thought.

Recommended. If you can get it, get it.

Saranac Caramel Porter

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I want to love Saranac beers, but this one I just can’t. Don’t get me wrong… I happily finished the six pack, but I never came to really like it. On the unofficial Hop-Talk rating, I give it a 3 at best.

After just following up on my Pet Peeves on Porters, I found the Southern Tier Porter to be a very decent choice. I had bought the Saranac at the same time and was hoping for a bonus, but I guess I was pushing it.

saranaccaramelporter.jpgI’ll start with what I did like about the Saranac Caramel Porter. The pour was very nice with a thick head and the aroma had very prominent caramel and chocolate notes. The mouth feel felt right for a porter, strong and lingered. The roasted malt flavor was not harsh.

But, it spoke of caramel and chocolate very loudly. So loud, I’d say they added real caramel to the brew. It also had that strong, sharp alcohol taste which was present in the aroma as well.

So this beer brings up my other pet peeve about any beer. I prefer these flavor characteristics to be subtle , almost imperceivable. I want to have to sip the entire beer before saying, “I think they may have put some real caramel in there…”

If I could only get my hands on a Bell’s Brewery Porter.