Taddy Porter - Samuel Smith Old Brewery

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter: This beer needs no fancy introduction. It is, by many accounts, the gold standard of porter beer. If you desire more than that just drink the damn thing.

ABV: 5%
Serving Type: 12oz. bottle

Appearance: Black with a burgundy glow. A fairly firm dark tan head (my picture notes an abnormally huge wad from a sloppy pour, disregard). Sits pretty nicely and leaves behind a nice lacing.

Smell: Earthy roasted malts and barley. Lots of nose. A little noticeable hop creeps out from behind the barley.

Taste: Nutty on the takeoff. Roasted mocha tones throughout. A hint of red wine earthiness. Sugary malts coat the mouth and linger.

Mouthfeel: Very pleasing on the tongue. Firm but completely unobtrusive in the mouth. A low carbonation feel. Not bubbly at all, just enough firm carbonation to help it down. Not exactly smooth, but closer to that than grainy.

Drinkability: This is a well balanced beer. As I've said before, I tend to favor slightly bigger beers. That being said, this one's not too weak to pass the mark, it's got excellent flavor, and it doesn't sit heavy in the gullet or the gut. It's a little pricey, but worth shelling out for. Apparently the only drinkability note that I deemed worth writing down was "extremely, I want another," which says pretty plainly that this beer invites one in for a full night of dinner, dancing, and home-run level action sure to leave an impression.
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Links:
Samuel Smith Old Brewery Website
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Red Brick Porter - Red Brick Brewing Company

I've had a rather protracted siesta from writing since I tackled the last brew review and I have a stack of beer notes piling up on my desk. A few weeks ago I decided to cut back my beer consumption to weekends only in a weak attempt to stay in shape and not become an alcoholic. If I can make myself crank out some catch up reviews I should be able to fall into a regular two or so new reviews per week. We'll see how that works...

To ease back into things I've decided to dig out the notes on yet another brew in what is easily one of my favorite styles, the Porter. This one made the short trip down from Atlanta, provided by my new good friends at the Red Brick Brewing Co. (formerly Atlanta Brewing Co.). You may know the name already from their quirky and ultra-recognizable Amber Ale, Laughing Skull. The Porter is the first beer I've tried out of Red Brick, and it was relatively blind. I hadn't heard much about them before buying this one, but their distinctly Southern sit-around-and-drink-beer-time air and "Beer from Around Here" slogan tickled my fancy just how I like it.

Appearance: Medium thick on the pour with a clear walnut brown body. A fat, sticky, two finger beige head propped istself up from a gingerly pour, and stuck around for the full dirt-lip tour.

Smell: On the first pass a pure chocolate aroma dominated. After giving it a few goes around I could pick out a bit of hops and sweet sugar cane, but it mostly smells of scandalous chocolate on top of chocolate action.

Taste: A simple and unassuming chocolate taste. Very smooooth (my notes directly indicate the smoothness factor of 4 "o"s) and a little sweet, but well balanced.

Mouthfeel: Coats the mouth nicely and hangs on the tongue just enough. Velvety smooooth feel following the taste's lead. If anything a little too thin for the taste and style.

Drinkability: Again quoting directly from my notes, "Yes!". With a little more thickness in the mouth and a sucker-punch of robustness or bitter in there I might be a fanboy. It's simple, it's got great flavor and it's very yummy for the drinker with a tiny bit of a sweet tooth. Fans of the American Porter at large should definitely give it a go. I would gladly drink this one all bbq long, and surely will at some point in time, hopefully soon.
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Links:
Red Brick Brewing Co. Website
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Hooker Imperial Porter - Thomas Hooker Brewing Company

The brew of the day is Thomas Hooker Brewing Company's take on an Imperial Porter. This is another brewery that I have heard mentioned, but had never previously tried any of their products. The website clearly displays their claim as "Connecticut's Beer" which on it's face seems quite bold. But for all I know they are the only brewery operating up there (though I doubt it). I've heard good words spoken in their favor, so I'll just let the beer speak for itself.

Appearance: Dark as hell. I'm pretty sure this beer actually poured into a black hole in my glass. My 8 LED flashlight with new batteries hardly cut through the black. As compared to the previous two beers this one seemed more visibly syrupy. A nice tight mousse-like tan head appeared and continued to lace throughout the drink.

Smell: I may have been handicapped by congestion, but I could just hardly decipher any nose at all. What little I could smell had an oak and alcohol mixture more reminiscent of some dark red wines I've tried than the porters I'm used to.

Taste: The whole of this beer proved to be as dark and mysterious as it seemed on the pour. An amalgam of flavors were present, but it was hard to distinguish particulars. I tasted defined hops, more oak barrel as the smell had foreshadowed, tiny bits of roasted malts throughout, tiny bits of chocolate and coffee, and a highly unexpected slightly sweet finish.

Mouthfeel: A good mix of carbonation and medium viscosity made the feel very nice. The beer swirled nicely around and I found it poised well between heavy and light. However, the feel appeared significantly thinner than the flavor indicated.

Drinkability: I don't know what to think about this one. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it. I had very high hopes for this dark and robust looking beer, but it fell flat. The look and palate were somewhat stout-like, but the flavors were too clouded and unbalanced for my taste and the mouthfeel left me wondering where Hooker's cojones went. I'd like to try this beer on tap or cask. My overall assessment is that this Hooker Imperial Porter is an odd brew that might be overly ambitious and it has come out too big for it's britches.
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Links:
Hooker Imperial Porter Page
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Highland Oatmeal Porter - Highland Brewing Company

For my first post-hiatus beer review I knocked back a beer I thought I'd surely enjoy, Highland Oatmeal Porter. I had never before tried anything from the Asheville, NC mountain people at Highland Brewing Company, but I've heard the name passed casually a time or two.

*For the sake of reading simplicity I'll follow beer advocate's standard A/S/T/M/D format.

Appearance: This brew poured quickly into a dark brown pool (almost black until held up to light, highlighting some chestnut hue). The head was very little, loose, not apparent, and faded immediately.

Smell: The scent was roasty, a bit nutty, and reserved for a beer that appears so dark. More chocolate nose came out with a little breathing time.

Taste: Chocolate chocolate chocolate. The flavor starts out chocolately, some malt and a tiny bit of hoppy bitterness creeps in, and the finish is chocolately all the way. The bitterness only serves to give a dark chocolate-like bite. The hop flavor sits in the back and keeps it's mouth shut. It's there if you're looking for it, but easy to miss. I got none of the distinct oatmeal or coffee flavors I was expecting, but the lack of those wasn't disappointing, just surprising. I would have preferred a tiny bit more sweetness with my chocolate, as there was hardly any there to speak of.

Mouthfeel: The oatmeal was at play here, along with the porter part of the title. Much like this brew's oatmeal stout brethren, it went down as smooth as silk (and smoother than the soymilk kind). Unlike the comparable stouts the porter is light and watery. Low carbonation and thinness make for an interesting mouthfeel for this type of flavor profile.

Drinkability: Good beer for lots of occasions. I would love to find this on tap and grab a pint, or crack open a bottle every now and again while shooting some breeze. This isn't a beer I'd drink all night, or with a meal, but it's interesting and tasty. I will certainly try this one again in the future. I'm not overly impressed with it, but I think this was a solid brew to kick off my beer index.
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Links:
Highland Brewing Company Styles Page
Beer Advocate Page
ratebeer Page