Docking your sip at friendly porters

Beer Police

By tony reaves

Posted on March 01, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.

My roommate doesn’t care for porters.

“Why drink a porter when I can get a better, thicker stout?”

He’s not alone on that. Porters, once London’s most popular beer, have become a niche beer since Arthur Guinness began making a thicker, creamier take on porters that was eventually called a stout.

However, during the porter’s heyday in the 18th century, it enjoyed huge popularity as a darker, more aged ale. Porter brewers in London were behind innovations like the use of the hydrometer to measure alcohol content and the patent malt. Rather than brewing by tradition, porters were the first modern beer to involve craft and experimentation.

With the resurgence of American microbrews in recent decades, these complex dark ales are back in production. I grabbed a few of the more popular porters from an Orono store for some testing.

First up was Samuel Adams’ Honey Porter, which they stopped brewing for a time but brought back due to popular demand. I’m not crazy about the use of honey in beer, but Sam Adams makes it work. One gets the impression that this would be bitter as hell without the honey added in, but the honey almost balances it out. Almost.

I still think the honey addition is a bit overpowering and as such, this would be fine to buy in a Sam Adams variety pack but drinking six in a row would be too sweet. B.

Atlantic Brewing’s Coal Porter shares its name with a famous composer-songwriter, but the name is so fitting it could be a coincidence.

This beer is dry. The first time I ever tried it, I realized that this was what people meant by “dry” beer. The carbonation pulled the moisture right off my tongue but left me with a smoky malt taste and a hint of oak. There was also some coffee taste in there, which can be expected from dark-roasted malts. This was satisfying. As always, Atlantic is a reliable brewery. B+

Finally, I twisted open my first bottle of Sierra Nevada Porter. There’s a lot going on here, from a light smokiness to a full hop character that really made this porter stand out. The coffee taste and a great body make this beer one of the best and most drinkable porters out there. A-

I didn’t try some other good porters this time around. Geary’s London Porter isn’t bad, though certainly not their best beer. In addition, the Bear Brew Pub’s Tuff End Porter is great when they’re serving it, but I haven’t seen it lately.

A good porter is the best of both worlds: the delicious, dark character of a stout and the color and tang of well-hopped ale.

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