Porter Things

2 January 2009, I held a porter tasting or some friends. We tasted 20 porters and 6 stouts mostly of the imperial variety. The tasters were: myself, Patrick, Thom, Bob, Damian, Andrew, Mike, Brian, Phil and Tina. The porters were Fitger's Parr's porter, Olfabrikken Danish porter, Capitol Baltic porter, Bell's porter, Mudpuppy porter (Central Waters, WI), Badger porter (Black River Falls, WI), Tyranena Devil made me do it coffee porter, Summit Great Northern porter, Surly Bender, Rogue Mocha porter, Smuttynose Robust porter, Zywiec porter (Poland), Gonzo Imperial porter (Flying Dog, Denver), Baltika 6 (Russia), Nogne O (Norway), Cygnuc X-1 (Flat Earth), Cygnus X-1 cherry infused, Samuel Smith Taddy porter, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, Okochim porter. The best of the night were Olfabrikken, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, and Nogne O. The worst was Capitol's Baltic porter. It was terrible, thin, tasteless, no character, and no redeeming qualities.

The imperial stouts were Pozharnik Imperial stout, Speedway Stout (Alesmith), Southern Tier (NY) Creme Brulee Chocolate stout, Pizza Port Santa's Little Helper, Obovoid (Boulder), and Tenfiddy (Oskar Blues, Lyon, CO). The best were Speedway but it needed another year lying still and Tenfiddy (in a can) just excellent. The worst and almost unpalatable was the Southern Tier too sweet in the bottle. Perhaps some aging might mellow it out. The taste and smell stayed with you as well.