Great Lakes Brewing – Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

CONTINUING A TRADITION naming beers after local legends and lore, Great Lakes’ Edmund Fitzgerald honors a freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a late autumn tempest in 1975. Though the brewery’s home of Cleveland, Ohio doesn’t border Lake Superior in the slightest, the vessel’s lingering legacy—mysterious and melancholy—is an appropriate match for this formidable porter. And while the freighter’s tale is a tragic one, the beer’s has become a triumph: it won gold at GABF on its maiden voyage (1991) and today remains revered as an icon of the style. Admittedly, beer laurels are scant consolation to the kin of those lost in the storm. But at least it ensures a dignified class to each toast raised in their remembrance.

Some porters are modest in their use of kilned grains and diverge from brown ales in nothing but name. Not so the Edmund. Its color is almost black, at least until the dregs when the edges take on a dark deep copper. The head is somewhat paler, though, off-white but not nearly tan. Roasted grains are quite strong in the aroma, especially when fresh into the glass with a bit of char brought on from the roasted barley. The beer’s other specialty malts are Caramel 77 and Chocolate—enough to give it complexity, but not enough to make the aroma gummy or indistinct. The next waves are of dark coffee and chocolate, black bread and moderate amounts of toast, each distinct but flowing so naturally as to efface all sharp edges. A dash of vanilla helps lighten the bouquet along with equally judicious hop notes—florals, a bit of spice (Northern Brewer and Willamette), and a faint zest of citrus (Cascade). Swirling releases a few garnishes of sweeter esters—a bit of licorice or currants—but these are quickly smeared back into the pure dark malts with a dollop of molasses.

The initial mouthfeel is velvety smooth, though this beer is hardly a full-bodied sugar bomb. The estimated Plato of 4.5 is a touch high, but a growing roast sensation draws that sweetness down as it approaches the finish, accompanied by solid but unobtrusive bitterness (37 IBUs). A 5.8% ABV rounds out a fairly average stat sheet for robust porter and is nowhere to be found in flavor or finish. The generous body is balanced by an ideal carbonation level that gives a slight lasting tickle to the finish along with a little mineral sprinkling. A bit of earthy bitterness on the back also helps keep any residual sweetness in check.

Thus the overall character of the beer is more roasted than chocolaty, though it never strays into stout’s black malt territory. Unlike its fateful namesake Edmund Fitzgerald stays balanced, never listing too far towards any one direction and holding a confident clear course. It’s satisfyingly thick on the tongue and fully capable of pairing with hearty chili or seared meats without confronting them head-on. Indeed, many newer porters may be stronger or more assertive, but few have ever been so effective.

Served: 12 oz bottle best by 7/12/14

Rating: 94

Anchor Brewing – Porter

AMONG ANCHOR BREWING’S many pioneering brews the most famous must be their Anchor Steam. It’s a style they’ve trademarked, after all, and have been brewing for more than a century. Indeed, the bond between steam beer and San Francisco is arguably America’s best answer to such inseparable pairings as Vienna lager, Czech pilsner, Dublin stout, London porter, et cetera. Anchor itself is also recognized as a craft trailblazer dating back to 1965, when Fritz Maytag rescued the company from bankruptcy and launched a new era. Since then Anchor has helped develop numerous American styles including barleywine, Christmas seasonals, India pale ale, and porter. Several were the first of their kind to be brewed since Prohibition; more than 40 years later, some still rank among the nation’s very best.

One such recipe is Anchor Porter. A robust and full-bodied beer, its color is a scant couple shades from black, tinged just enough with deep brown to make it look more like cocoa than espresso. Head retention is not too strong, but lacing is substantial and the texture quite creamy while it lasts. The aroma is heavily skewed towards malts, blending dark bread, cocoa powder and milk chocolate both, nuts, and eventually some lesser suggestions of coffee and roast. Those darkest malts are not particularly prominent in either aroma or flavor, helping distinguish this porter from stout and keeping its overall impression quite velvety.

The mouthfeel is correspondingly generous, sweetened with chocolate and licorice, then undergirded by those black malts to imply a little crunch—like a piece of bread toasted enough not to turn soggy when spread with Nutella. And while Northern Brewer hops are not very clear in the mix they do push back somewhat in the aftertaste, effectively countering the panoply of malts without demanding attention. A classic approach.

And somehow also balanced: the mouthfeel is big and soft, full-flavored yet somewhat mellow, not sugary but still a little sticky on the lips, and showing some creamy carbonation late that’s overall fairly subdued. A light spreading alcohol sensation appears in the finish, although the 5.6% is by no means elevated. The finish offers renewed notes of dark bread, less roasted than is usual in a beer this dark and again standing clear of stout territory. If ever one wondered at the difference between the two, Anchor’s Porter should stand as exhibit number one.

Indeed, Anchor’s porter is quintessential. Newcomers have updated the style with stronger roasted flavors or more aromatic hops—Black Butte, for instance, or Founders’—and deserve to be recognized. But aside from Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald (and to a lesser extent Sierra Nevada), Anchor’s is the most tried and true porter that exists on American shores.

Served: 12 oz bottled 11/7/13 (3NF)

Rating: 93

Breckenridge Brewery – Vanilla Porter

BRECKENRIDGE MAY NOT have been the first to put vanilla bean in their porter, but they have certainly become the most famous to do so. In fact, their Vanilla Porter seems so ubiquitous that it’s hard to believe that the Denver brewery only ranks about 40^th among the nation’s largest craft producers. Appropriately, this places them alongside Left Hand, from neighboring Boulder County, whose famous Milk Stout is another world-beating dark ale that could easily be an ingredient in most of Dairy Queen’s recipes.

Breckenridge’s flagship is reasonably deemed a porter for its depth of color, which seems at first but reveals reddish depths like dark rum once down towards the dregs, and substantial grist of roasted barley and black malts. But at only 16 IBUs the Vanilla Porter is surely one of the least bitter porters on record, substantially below the range of even mild English brown porter. Four hops were used (Chinook, Palisade, Perle, Golding), yet their presence is so mild as to be all but unmentionable.

This leaves the beer’s bouquet and finish wide open for the vanilla, which hardly needs the help in asserting itself. Thankfully, Breckenridge chose well here (sourcing beans from Papa New Guinea and Madagascar), and the vanilla flavors are smoothly natural instead of cloying like extract. Carbonation is a touch too tame, though perhaps it’s best that the vanilla is allowed freely with two kinds of roasted malts late on the palate, silky and a little smoky, before tapering off into an unexpectedly light finish. Some caramel malts help the beer from being purely one note, but only just. Between the minimal hopping, 4.7% ABV, and light body it’s clear that Vanilla Porter isn’t too concerned with complexity. It’d rather sidle up to a scoop of ice cream in a beer float. For which, admittedly, it’d be perfect.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 83

Founders Brewing – Porter

FOUNDERS PORTER is the kind of beer Rembrandt would have brewed. Its individual strokes, dark and bold, elegantly blend into a dusky portrait that’s smooth and warm yet still striking and full of implicit depth.  At least, that’s the impression one gets after gazing at the pale beauty gracing the beer’s label. Sketched with the same affinity for shadow and elegant intimacy that were the Dutch master’s signature, the portrait seems a natural continuation of the beer itself.

Initially a little shy, once warmed up the aroma cycles through cocoa, smidges of licorice and black cherry, deep molasses and toffee. Black patent malt gives this porter its impenetrable color as well as its fining edge of charcoal, but they don’t constitute enough of the grain bill to leave overmuch coffee char on the tongue. Rather, the complexion of dark grains is nearly velvety, patiently percolating through roasted malt, a light vanilla sweetness, slight air of alcohol (6.5% ABV), and a lengthy finish that has no husky heat, only leaning on roasted notes as its temperature rises. Unexpectedly soft water frames the malty midsection nicely—a ray of light amidst all this shadow. Hops are very much a secondary presence (45 IBUs) as a behind-the-scenes balancing act, perhaps contributing a little complexity to the finish yet with less bitterness overall than expected. The dark tan, while a little short-lived, supplies a decent dose of creaminess in the early going, while the liquid contains just enough carbonation to belie its oily opacity with a crispness that subtly eases its flavors across the palate. A full-flavored porter full of implicit depth and all of it finely clad, Founders Porter fully earns its dark heart.

Served: 12 oz bottled 10/15/13

Rating: 92

Tyranena Brewing – Chief Blackhawk Porter

WHEN IS A PORTER not a porter? When it’s Tyranena’s Chief BlackHawk and might as well be stout. To be sure, the porter style is subject to wide interpretation on both sides of the Atlantic, but rarely are they so dark (i.e. just about black) and unilaterally defined by roasted malts.

The beer’s head is nicely tight and creamy, reminiscent of cappuccino in appearance and aroma. On the palate BlackHawk is unexpectedly dry—not quite light-bodied but neither chewy—with a little alcohol packaged amidst a dose of char in the midsection. Dark cocoa and black patent malt roast lead in the flavor, almost to the exclusion of anything beyond some small allusions to dark fruit sweetness. The finish is fairly crisp and the carbonation that had hung back discreetly comes forward in the aftertaste, abbreviating it slightly. A bit of hop bitterness emerges in the aftertaste but not enough to give the beer much complexity. Though BlackHawk’s 35 IBUs aren’t exactly mild, more hop flavor (earthy or leafy, not just bitterness) would have been welcome to broaden its purview from almost exclusively roasted barley. Or perhaps instead a stronger hand with crystal malts? So easily overused, in this case they would have given BlackHawk more depth and character. Tyranena allude to the porter’s origins as a session beer, so it’s understandable that they tried to keep this beer fairly dry and none too filling. Yet with so narrow and unforgiving a flavor spectrum BlackHawk would wear out its welcome long before last call.

Served: On tap (Clementi’s, Arlington Heights)

Rating: 85

Deschutes Brewery – Black Butte Porter

BEFORE DESCHUTES BREWERY gained distribution east of the Rockies, they were still well-known for limited releases like The Abyss Imperial Stout and a perennial goosing of Black Butte Porter (most recently XXV). Such specialty brews travel well on the internet. But to connect the hard turf between Bend, Oregon and the sprawling Midwest would take more workaday beers—year-round six-pack fare to churn through grocery shelves and keep cash flowing. Deschutes has a solid array of beers up to the task, but perhaps none has been as constant as their de facto calling card, the standard Black Butte. With no frills, no barrels, and no adjuncts, Black Butte it is still regularly referenced as one of America’s best porters, period: well-made, well-balanced, flavorful, fit for everyday consumption and special pairings alike.

So expectations were strangely mixed when the beer finally arrived in Chicago, at once heightened by the widespread acclaim and tempered by its sensibility and the dearth of fulsome hyperbole. Such a combination seems fitting for a porter. Itself originally an unusual blend, it became the titan of all beers and one of England’s most lucrative businesses, then was to ambiguity and nearly eradicated before the craft revolution revived and tailored it to myriad personal tastes. Which would be Deschutes’?

At least in appearance Black Butte does its namesake justice, rising proudly in the glass a deep yet transparent garnet-brown capped by a copious wheat-fueled head. It lasts, too, with plenty of lacing to spare and deep rocky pits in the lingering foam. The aroma is a dense and lively burst of husky grains, toffee, chocolate malt, some molasses, and a touch of smoke. All these and a generous roasted edge make their way onto the palate, but Black Butte also has a distinct hop counterpoint (grass, touch of citrus) that ensures a complex, not just carbonized, bitterness.

At only 30 IBUs Black Butte is still quite approachable, with a hint of lingering sweetness–licorice or dark berry–that keeps the midpalate affable. Fermented to 5.2% ABV, Black Butte’s body is creamy and off-dry with no alcohol heat. Indeed, the beer finishes with remarkable clarity for all its early flavors—crisp, a touch of water, and the carbonation still on-point without being conspicuous. Overall it is more assertive than modern English porter, more affable than many American showboats, and cleaner than both. Harking once more to its namesake Black Butte stands confident and composed, alone but not aloof.

Served: 12 oz bottle (best by 2/28/14)

Rating: 92

Maine Beer Company – King Titus

THE LABEL FOR Main Brewing Company’s King Titus Porter shows a tiny picture of a large silverback gorilla. The mismatch is further emphasized by elegant pink lettering that spells out the beer’s name just above Titus’ contemplative portrait. A murky message—but then so was the life of Titus himself.

King Titus the beer is less conflicted: a dark brown American porter of 7.5% ABV with a proud dark tan head and robustly bodied around 1.018 FG. Its aromas are complex, mixing must, vanilla, fairly bitter cocoa, and roasted coffee malt along with some background floral and slightly citric hops. On the palate its carbonation is low, enhancing the creaminess of the mouthfeel (bolstered by wheat and oats, though the body isn’t especially dense) and allowing subtle notes of cherry and a bit of barrel bite to emerge towards the finish. Never harsh and with little hop bitterness to note, King Titus maintains a lovely smoothness and slight smokiness overall that goes down regally, indeed. A bit more fight out of it would have been welcome, though.

Served: 750 ml bottle

Rating: 91

Temperance Beer Company – Root Down Porter

DIRT DARK and frothy with a slightly odd must to its aroma, Root Down Porter seems drawn from the same ancient tuns as Temperance’s Gatecrasher IPA. (Both reportedly the same English ale yeast, which is allowed extra space to flourish and could become part of Temperance’s flavor signature.) Root Down heaps on all the malts that Gatecrasher skirted, though, and accentuates them further with chicory and licorice additions. Chocolate malts are strong in the nose and the chicory’s coffee-like roast is dominant on the palate early, with anise and some lighter toasted malt coming forward later. Neither makes much room for aroma or flavor hops. The beer’s 5.2% ABV is not a flavor factor and its moderate carbonation is pushed around a little by the robust body, making Root Down overall somewhat top-heavy. Still flavorful and engaging, though.

Served: Growler

Rating: 83

Samuel Smith – The Famous Taddy Porter

FEW BREWERIES are so steadfast as Samuel Smith and few brews so satisfying as a good English Porter. The two combine in ‘The Famous’ Taddy Porter, which despite its prideful name is about as affable as beer can be. And that even includes Smith’s impeccably smooth Oatmeal Stout and Nut Brown Ale. Taddy pours with a medium light-tan head that sits atop a dark ruby-brown body, somewhat transparent around its edges. Its nose is thoroughly malted with virtually no semblance of hops, instead showing medium dark chocolate, plump raisins, hearty brown bread, and a little cherry. On the palate its carbonation glides unobtrusively and with perfect constancy beneath the medium-full body, providing just enough relief from the malt to be refreshing. Some cane sugar was added in fermentation, though with only 5% ABV it doesn’t seem to be used much for boosting attenuation; instead, it blends with the malts to create a splendidly smooth mouthfeel reminiscent of butterscotch, but without the impression of drinking candy.

Though generous, the body is a little lighter than it could have been (and than this description has made it sound). It’s also hard to articulate a single aftertaste, since the flavors persevere so dependably from front to back and don’t leave any untoward traces behind: yeast, alcohol, hops, and chocolaty malts all bundle up in an unobtrusive fashion, granting distinct satisfaction without a potent signature. If anything, the mild impression of hard water (from a well originally sunk in 1758) comes through for a tasteful carbonate contrast, but nothing so bold as the signatures of Burton-Upon-Trent or the Rhineland, for example.

So well-disposed, Taddy slips almost unnoticed into a hearty beef stew, serving almost like a heel of brown bread with which to sop up the juices and carry its savory flavors to every corner of the mouth. Its subtlety rewards the attentive mind, but just as easily will please a swifter drinker looking more for just a pint to grasp. It is deeply satisfying and yet so natural as to almost be overlooked, “like the fourth leg of a stool,” as a tasting partner put it.

Served: 550 ml bottle

Rating: 94

Stone Brewing – Smoked Porter

IT’S A BIT surprising that Stone’s Smoked Porter isn’t a choking conflagration, given the brewery’s habit for aggrandizement. But for all their loftiness and willful arrogance the brewers at Stone are also true professionals with refined palates. This Porter is their second-oldest offering, moreover (est. 1996), built from an English template with peat-smoked Scottish malt; thus it lacks the meaty, blackened, or even cheesy saturation of many American efforts released after the millennium. And though the color is satisfyingly scorched, the body itself is lighter than many would have made it.

Yet it is indisputably a smoked beer, so oaky, slightly charcoaled, and indeed peaty qualities define both aroma and flavor. Roasted coffee and intensely dark cocoa can also be picked out, though the latter is in such small proportions as to not be overpowering. Hops (Magnum and Mt. Hood) aren’t very preset in the aroma, but enough of the former are used to rack up a solid and earthy 53 IBUs that counters the smoke and malts without fighting against them. Carbonation levels are not especially high (the head was minimal) and the finish is quite clean for all its early forcefulness. Bold enough to cleanse the palate of fat and dairy but restrained enough not to overpower pasta, pair it with mac & cheese for perfectly satiating comfort. (Alas, though every village has its idiot, few are so rewarding as Lexington’s. See below.)

And that is the theme with Stone’s Smoked Porter–balance. With its rejection of Rauchbier intensity, sourcing of milder English ingredients, restrained body, and sub-6% ABV (albeit barely), this is of very few beers in Stone’s profile that has serious crossover appeal. Who’d have thought it of a porter, much less a smoked one? But such is Stone’s alchemy.

Served: On tap (The Village Idiot, Lexington)

Rating: 90

The Village Idiot’s Truffle & Crab Mac & Cheese: ‘Maryland lump crab and Lexington Pasta Co. conchiglie with black truffle peelings in a three cheese and truffle mornay’