Blog Tracker
26-09-2014, 07:54
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/)
Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Writing about beer and pubs since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)
This week, we tasted three porters from the*trendier end of the spectrum, all in 330ml bottles, and purchased from Ales by Mail.
BrewDog Brixton, 5%, £2.40.
Five Points Railway,*4.8%, £2.52.
Brew by Numbers 03/01 Original, 6.1%, £2.80.
(We gave these three 30 minutes in the fridge before pouring and drank them from the same stemmed half-pint glasses as last time, for those who are interested in such matters.)
How do*self-consciously*‘craft’ breweries approach porter? As a gap in the market, perhaps, or as a novelty — there aren’t many mainstream breweries producing beer in this style. Via American home brewing literature and its guidelines for multiple types of porter, we suspect. And maybe*inspired directly by Anchor Porter, which has a quiet cult following in the UK and has done for years. It does not seem to be subjected to quite the same experiments*in flavouring or hybridising as other styles — it’s usually kept fairly straight, often even with a nod to tradition.
In fact, the main difference between a*‘craft’ porter and any other seems to be the size of the servings which*defied attempts at quaffing.
Five Points poured with a perfect, tight, off-white head, and*had what we can only describe as a*crazy (pleasant) aroma which brought to mind Angel Delight and Bailey’s Irish Cream. The first sip took us by surprise — it was subtly but distinctly yoghurt-sour, which added a pleasing complexity. Was it deliberate, or a happy mistake? Either way, it turned a bog-standard porter into something rather moreish and enjoyable. Ultimately, it’s not something we’d want to drink*every day, so it isn’t*a contender for the purchase of an entire case, but we’d happily buy it again.
BrewDog Brixton*is a beer we’ve had before and enjoyed without being bowled over. It poured suitably oily-black.*The overwhelming character is a dry*ashiness, like eating a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, but, beyond that, it’s perhaps too thin for sipping, while being too much hard work to just drink. It was certainly perfectly clean and the condition was spot on. But… we were rather enjoying it by the end, and it turns out to have a kind of delayed wow factor.*It’s an outside contender.
Brew by Numbers (aka BBNo) 03/01*prompted one of our fairly frequent*disagreements: Boak’s immediate reaction to the aroma was, ‘Eugh! Booze and antiseptic!’ while Bailey got a pleasant whiff of vanilla. Its body was unctuous, fairly well-balanced, with a touch of acidity suggesting berries or cherries. Ultimately, though, it was rather heavy going and rough. We would not drink this again and it’s definitely not a contender. (Another of their beers, a saison with cucumber, was one of the hits of our summer.)
Next time: those Guinness porters, and some pondering on to what extent they can be considered British. (Don’t start arguing with us about this now… you’ll get your chance.) Here’s what we made of the last batch (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-1/) and this post explains what we’re up to (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/british-bottled-porters-part-1/). See also: The Beer o’ Clock Show’s imminent stout/porter poll (http://www.beeroclockshow.co.uk/2014/09/a-bump-in-the-road/).
Porter Tasting: Batch 2 (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/)
Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Writing about beer and pubs since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)
This week, we tasted three porters from the*trendier end of the spectrum, all in 330ml bottles, and purchased from Ales by Mail.
BrewDog Brixton, 5%, £2.40.
Five Points Railway,*4.8%, £2.52.
Brew by Numbers 03/01 Original, 6.1%, £2.80.
(We gave these three 30 minutes in the fridge before pouring and drank them from the same stemmed half-pint glasses as last time, for those who are interested in such matters.)
How do*self-consciously*‘craft’ breweries approach porter? As a gap in the market, perhaps, or as a novelty — there aren’t many mainstream breweries producing beer in this style. Via American home brewing literature and its guidelines for multiple types of porter, we suspect. And maybe*inspired directly by Anchor Porter, which has a quiet cult following in the UK and has done for years. It does not seem to be subjected to quite the same experiments*in flavouring or hybridising as other styles — it’s usually kept fairly straight, often even with a nod to tradition.
In fact, the main difference between a*‘craft’ porter and any other seems to be the size of the servings which*defied attempts at quaffing.
Five Points poured with a perfect, tight, off-white head, and*had what we can only describe as a*crazy (pleasant) aroma which brought to mind Angel Delight and Bailey’s Irish Cream. The first sip took us by surprise — it was subtly but distinctly yoghurt-sour, which added a pleasing complexity. Was it deliberate, or a happy mistake? Either way, it turned a bog-standard porter into something rather moreish and enjoyable. Ultimately, it’s not something we’d want to drink*every day, so it isn’t*a contender for the purchase of an entire case, but we’d happily buy it again.
BrewDog Brixton*is a beer we’ve had before and enjoyed without being bowled over. It poured suitably oily-black.*The overwhelming character is a dry*ashiness, like eating a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, but, beyond that, it’s perhaps too thin for sipping, while being too much hard work to just drink. It was certainly perfectly clean and the condition was spot on. But… we were rather enjoying it by the end, and it turns out to have a kind of delayed wow factor.*It’s an outside contender.
Brew by Numbers (aka BBNo) 03/01*prompted one of our fairly frequent*disagreements: Boak’s immediate reaction to the aroma was, ‘Eugh! Booze and antiseptic!’ while Bailey got a pleasant whiff of vanilla. Its body was unctuous, fairly well-balanced, with a touch of acidity suggesting berries or cherries. Ultimately, though, it was rather heavy going and rough. We would not drink this again and it’s definitely not a contender. (Another of their beers, a saison with cucumber, was one of the hits of our summer.)
Next time: those Guinness porters, and some pondering on to what extent they can be considered British. (Don’t start arguing with us about this now… you’ll get your chance.) Here’s what we made of the last batch (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-1/) and this post explains what we’re up to (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/british-bottled-porters-part-1/). See also: The Beer o’ Clock Show’s imminent stout/porter poll (http://www.beeroclockshow.co.uk/2014/09/a-bump-in-the-road/).
Porter Tasting: Batch 2 (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2014/09/porter-tasting-batch-2/)