Beer Reviews: Three Porters

As I write this it is January and here in the Northeast, it's cold, raw, and windy. In other words, is perfect weather for a nice pint of Porter. Porter is a dark, heavy style of beer that is generally brewed with darker malts than other styles of beer. It is similar in style to beers called "Stouts". In fact, as far as I can tell through research done both on the internet and in bars, there is no discernable difference between stouts and porters.

Regardless of what you call them or how you compare them to other beers, I find Porters to be perfect for cold weather beer drinking. They tend to be heavier than other styles of beer, so they fill you up on a cold day. They tend to have bold flavor profiles and a creamy consistency. Of course, there are hundreds of different Porters out there from hundreds of different breweries, and they are all slightly different.

I'm always on the lookout for new craft beers to try out, and come this time of year, I find myself hunting out Porters to taste. Today, I'd like to share my thoughts on three Porters I have tried recently.

In my descriptions, I use a few terms that may need defining. ABV means "alcohol by volume" which is a measure of the alcohol in a beer. An ABV of 5% is pretty average. A "light" beer tends to be more in the 3-4% ABV range. IBU stands for "International Bittering Units", and is a measure of how bitter a beer is. Bitterness in beer is usually a result of the amount of hops that have been added to the beer during brewing. A light beer may have an IBU ratings as low as 5. An average IPA is usually in the 70 range. I've had beers with IBU ratings of 150 and up. Porters tend not to be the most bitter beers out there, so they tend to have IBU ratings that are a bit lower than some beers.

Mayflower Brewing Company Porter

The first Porter was from the Mayflower Brewing Company in Plymouth, MA. The beer sports a 5.5% ABV and 33 IBU. The beer is a dark, light bodied but rich, with a touch of sweetness up front that mellows into a pleasant roasty taste.

For a porter, it hit that sweet spot for me between drinkability and interest. It's not so "interesting" as to be something you can't drink a lot of, but it's not so "drinkable" that it's bland or boring. I could see this being a good session beer, especially in late fall or winter, sitting around a fire in someone's backyard watching the leaves fall or the first few snowflakes of the year fall.

Stone Smoked Porter

The next Porter was the Smoked Porter from the Stone Brewery in San Diego, CA. This beer is a 5.9% ABV with 53 IBU. It came our way in a 22 ounce bottle that, like all of Stone's beer, is painted right on the bottle.

This beer is a great mix of complexity and drinkability. It's not too sweet, not too bitter, and has just the right touch of smokey flavor. That's key, with this being a "smoked" beer. Some people seem to think "smoked" should taste like "beer with charcoal in it", but I prefer something a little bit more balanced. This beer is it, it's got a rich, smooth malty taste, with just enough hops to balance it out.

Shipyard Imperial Porter

The third Porter was from the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. It was an Imperial Porter from their Pugsley's Signature Series, which is named after their brew master. The beer has a 7.1 % ABV and came in a 22 ounce bottle.

This beer is a lot sweeter than the Stone product, and has just a touch of an alcohol taste at the end. It's malty and rich with a bit more hop bite at the end than the Stone.

The fact that the Shipyard beer could be so different than the Stone and Mayflower brews, and yet they're all porters, is really something. The fact that they're all very tasty and well crafted beers that are so different is part of what makes drinking Porter such a pleasant experience.