Anchor Brewing Co.: Porter

I hadn't really anticipated writing a beer review during the Bar Exam, but I was so excited to have finally put the six-hour, two-hundred question multistate portion of the exam behind me that I went out and bought myself a beer to have with dinner. While the bomber of Stone's Imperial Russian was tempting me, I'm not feeling that confident. So I went with a new pick from a favorite brewery: Anchor's porter.

Anchor really went big with the flavors on this one. An initial rush of sweet toasted malts gives way to a substantial dose of hops as the beer rolls over your overwhelmed tastebuds. The intial burst of sweetness has an almost fruity character to it, but the hops come in so quickly and so powerfully that you don't have much time to figure out exactly which fruit it is. The finishing flavor is a distinctive smokiness that persists along with the bold hop flavors for quite a while. For coffee-lovers like myself, the aftertaste is nothing to complain about, but those who are not quite as enamored with bitter flavors might want to stay away.

The mouthfeel tends toward the thicker side of the spectrum, which along with the bold, smoky flavors probably makes this the sort of beer that isn't really best enjoyed on a hot summer afternoon. Of course, that concern doesn't apply if you happen to be hanging out in Anchor's hometown of San Francisco, where the word "hot" is used to refer to any day that gets above 75 degrees. And even those are few and far between.

Another solid showing for a California mainstay. Hopheads and fans of darker brews should check this one out for sure.

Ballast Point: Black Marlin Porter

Let me get right to the point: this is a smooth porter. Everything about this beer is silky. Black Marlin Porter comes in 22oz bottles at select liquor stores and when poured fills out with a solid black hue but with little to no head. With 6 oz to spare I tried to stir up some bubbles with an aggressive pour but coaxed very few.

The taste is subdued for a porter exhibiting little hop bite, greatly reduced smokey flavors, and only a touch of the coffee sensation. The aftertaste exhibits most of the coffee bean tastes and I was only able to really draw out the cafe flavors with that obnoxious mouth smacking breathing after a sip. As the beer warms, more hop resin flavors emerge but nothing crazy.

That all being said I really did enjoy this beer. As a personal preference I prefer other ales to porters (you've probably noticed from my prior posts). I find at times that roasted malts in porters can be too smokey and drown out hop and malted barley flavors. That is just not the case with Ballast Point's porter. I found it pretty easy to suck down a bomber of this brew and there was just enough hop resins to remind me of my other favorite west coast style beers. If you are into a smooth porter I'd recommend that you 'get to the point' and grab the black marlin. Cheers.

Yuengling: Porter

As I mentioned a while back in my post on Yuengling's lager, Yuengling is a major east coast brewery and is the iconic beer of the Philadelphia region. Kim, one of my friends here at Penn, had the brilliant idea to take a trip to the Yuengling brewery in Pottsville. Having nothing better to do on Friday, four of us headed up to see America's oldest brewery. Besides the usual explanation of the brewing process and tour of the facilities (including their awesome bottling-and-canning facility), we got the chance to sample some of Yuengling's other brews. I was particularly impressed with their porter.

Yuengling is not a brewery interested in bold experimentation with complex or novel flavors. They go for getting the perfect take on traditional genres. Subtlety isn't their usual game, but I found that their porter is actually a pretty complex beer. It's got the typical dark roasty malts that are suggestive of coffee and chocolate, but there's some other flavors hiding in the background like cherries (props to Jon for figuring out that one). For a porter, this one's pretty well carbonated and has a lighter mouthfeel, making it unusually drinkable for a dark beer.

Good job on this one, Yuengling. Glad to see that Philly's flagship has a bit of versatility.

Flying Fish: Imperial Espresso Porter

My last coffee/porter hybrid try (see Rogue's Mocha Porter) was such a success that I figured I should make my way back into the genre. Deciding I'd stay local this time (Flying Fish is out of New Jersey), I grabbed Flying Fish's offering, notwithstanding the "Imperial" tag.

If I had to pick one word here, it would be "sweet." This is definitely one of the sweetest beers I've had outside the fruit/lambic category. Caramel and vanilla are the principal flavors; they are there from the moment it hits your tastebuds, and they linger well into the aftertaste phase. The coffee is there too, showing up somewhat late in the taste, though they don't do much to knock out the sweetness. Hops come through just barely at the very end.

Fortunately, the carbonation and light mouthfeel keep the sweetness from becoming cloying, though all in all this is definitely sweeter than I prefer. I will give this beer props for masking the alcohol content though: while it's listed at 8% ABV, you can't taste the alcohol anywhere.

Flying Dog: Gonzo Imperial Porter

First the story about how I got this beer. So a few months back I reviewed Flying Dog's K9 Winter Ale. It was a decent brew, but nothing exceptional, so that's essentially what I wrote. Then, to my surprise, I get a comment posted by a rep from the Flying Dog brewery saying that they were sorry I didn't like the K9 all that much and that they'd send me some more beer to try. Well that pretty much obligates me to blog another one of their brews, so here you are: Flying Dog's Gonzo Imperial Porter.

Spring is coming. In California, that means bouts of warm weather. Here in Philly, it means that riding to school in the morning I no longer worry about whether my ears will freeze and break off. But it's still cold enough to indulge in dark, alcohol-heavy brews. So Flying Dog's porter is still quite in season.

The verdict? Well this time Flying Dog delivers up a solid brew. The beer is full bodied and packed full of flavor. The predominant taste is sweet and super-smoky malts, though for a porter it's also quite hoppy. That means a full scale assault on your tastebuds beginning the moment it his your lips and a long-lasting (though fortunately not unpleasant) aftertaste. In the case of an imperial strength brew, this is probably a good thing, since the beer manages to mask the taste of alcohol pretty much completely. You'd never know you were drinking an imperial unless you looked at the label... until the alcohol kick hits and you walk over to the thermostat to see if the room just warmed up.

All in all this is a beer I definitely recommend to other dark-beer lovers. It's also definitely one of the better high-alcohol beers I've had (though at 7.8%, some might quibble that it's not truly "imperial"). Cheers!

Rogue: Mocha Porter

I like beer. I like chocolate. I like coffee. When you mix coffee and chocolate you get mocha. And when you mix mocha and a dark strong lager, you get pure deliciousness. Enter: Rogue's Mocha Porter.

Rogue is another brewery I'm sure you're all familiar with. They are from Orgeon, and along with Red Hook, Pyramid, and Deschuttes they are helping to establish a formidable Pac Northwest brewing tradition. They are best known for their "Rogue Dead Guy" ale, but to date their Mocha Porter is my new favorite. In fact I'd go so far as to say it's the best west coast dark beer I've ever had, period.

The beer isn't all that heavy, but it's got extremely full flavor. It's a very malty beer, with distinct coffee notes and a lingering hint of chocolate. It's almost the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. The hops are initially overpowered by the dark malts, but a hint of hoppiness comes through at the end to cleanse the palate a bit. Overall a very pleasant drink: very full and satisfying flavors but a very mild aftertaste; none of that tongue-coating effect you get sometimes with thick, dark beers.

Don't know what else to say about this one then to try it yourself. And I can finally rest assured knowing that when I come back West, there will be at least one grade A porter waiting for me.