Saltar al contenido

Let's Learn Beer!

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Let's Learn Beer!

Twitter Youtube Instagram Facebook

Let's Learn Beer!

Twitter Youtube Instagram Facebook

Let's Learn Beer!

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

porter

modern nostalgia

  • por

What to do about a holiday dedicated to drinking? Skip it since it’s too mainstream? That sounds like me, although not really because of the idea of the mainstream, but because that usually means crowds. I’ll just take something to go, thank you. The least I can do is have a black beer, even if it is a porter rather than a stout, and “remastered” instead of classic. It’s Drunken Bros Remastered Porter, promising something new in the comforting shell of the familiar.

The can seems extra full, with a little spit up on opening the tab, but it doesn’t explode in fury. The aroma explodes, like a freshly ripped open pack of coffee. It’s one of the more coffee than petroleum beers, a rich dark brown and only beige-ish head, and a roasted and lightly sweetened scent floating off it. The beer feels smooth and light, and starts out like a nice milky coffee, but it doesn’t take long for claws to grow. First there’s more bitter that rises up and grabs your attention, and then the beer itself leaves some of its smoothness behind. Now it’s a little more like a coffee cake that got left out overnight, crumbly and scratching but still delicious.

Supplier: Hop Hop Hurra
Price: €3.55

porter day

  • por

Baltic Porter Day was announced as January 18, so it wasn’t that big a surprise when I went to pick up something for the occasion and there was just a space on the shelves.  As you can see, I missed the 18th, but I have also seen the holiday listed as the third Saturday in January, so I’ll take this loophole.  Unfortunately, I also need to find a loophole for the Baltic part; plenty of stouts around (for next month), but not a lot of porters.  I did have a regular but spiced porter presented: BBNO 03’s 10th anniversary collaboration with Amundsen.  It looks quite complex, flavored with chocolate, orange and cinnamon.  The Holidays might be over, but this holiday looks like it has a tasty drink to go with it.

Not especially thick pouring out, but the beige head is pretty fluffy. Spicy and slightly citrusy aroma, only the barest hint of chocolate lurking. It’s very toasty, still not strong chocolate, but with just a little bit of sweetness. It’s not actually very bitter, more smoky and earthy, so a smoother beer than expected at first. Even the sweetness is subdued, so the taste is quite clean. There’s no aftertaste to speak of and the beer itself has a light and smooth feel. After settling for a few minutes a more obvious flavor of chocolate starts to come through, but the beer remains drinkable and gentle, not as thick and warming as some I would choose for the season, but still delightful.

Supplier: La Mundial

Price: €7.60

wake up

  • por

Oh yes, there had to be at least one more!  Guineu and Mala Gissona give us a porter now, Txoko.  I’m hoping that that’s a hint of chocolate or cacao, but a regular, rich porter would hit the spot really well right now.  The November rain has been delayed until winter’s door, so it feels like a good time to sit with good dark beer and unwind.

A little thin looking, coffee smelling. Nice head at first, but it fizzles away quickly. The taste is much bigger than expected based on the color and aroma: it’s an extra chocolate and vanilla syrup shot in the morning brew. While slick, it does have a bit of a sticky feel. It’s a little strange for a mid-week beer for some reason, it feels like something you should be having on Friday night before going out for some real fun, or Saturday afternoon to wake up completely.

cosied up

  • por

One of the other dark beers pulled off the shelf at Hop Hop Hurra, Pohjala’s Cosy Nights Vanilla Porter.  The shopkeep was impressed with the choice, saying he was just blown away by it.  Pohjala is a very respectable source of beer, especially the dark beers I’ve found, and it looks like there will be some drizzly days ahead.  Perfect for a porter at home!

Good color and fizzy head, looking on the slimmer side for feel. It has something of a vanilla ice cream aroma. The first sip is oddly tickly, with a tiny feeler of bitter, but then it smooths out into something more candy-like, and the vanilla is definitely leading the way. It has something more of a coating feel in the mouth, not a beer that slides on and disappears, although not sticky at first. There’s a shadow of licorice and coffee boiling up in the middle, fortunately for me the licorice remains just a whisper. It has a definite warming effect, very appropriate to being a winter porter, and just the thing when you’re suffering a little cold. After a while there’s some kind of banana flavor sneaking in, giving it even more of a pudding sensation. In the end, there’s much to recommend the beer, it’s tasty and it’s calming, it goes perfectly with its own name. A fine choice indeed.

Supplier: Hop Hop Hurrah

Price: €5.75

in the shadows

  • por

So finally we had some rain yesterday, a good day for sitting in the window and sipping on a nice dark beer.  I kept my porter until today, though.  When I was browsing, there it was, sitting proudly on the shelf, all in its brown bottle, like a cone of chocolate.  Onso porter might not have that chocolate touch, though, being porter rather than stout.  There will probably be a little fruitiness to it, which is acceptable.  Now that it’s not 100 damn degrees out, even a little black beer stickiness won’t be so bad.  Cerveza Rodonda, show me what you got.

Extra foamy, and I’m a little surprised the bottle didn’t overflow on opening. The head is barely tinted beige, but the beer carries a pretty good dark color. It’s dark brown, not black, but good enough. There isn’t a strong puff of aroma at first, but letting it sit out allows just a hint of pickled plum to waft out and settle over the area near the bottle. In the glass there’s more of a light raisiny scent. The taste also has a lot of dried fruit rather than fresh, prunes and raisins over plums or apples. As a porter I would expect it to have some fruit to it, and along these lines. It’s a very subtle and unassuming flavor, displaying a little heft in the mouth but going down softly and not leaving hardly anything behind. Left to its own devices, the beer develops a wisp of smoke in the aftertaste, adding some interest and complexity to a solid but otherwise simple brew.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €3.70

es_ESSpanish
en_USEnglish es_ESSpanish