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.

Halloween things

Ale Saints Day at the Blue Nile on 2027 E. Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis's beautiful Seward neighborhood. Al the bar manager had put together an mazing selection of great beers (porters and stouts) for an extravaganza. At 4 Pm he opened a cask of Bell's Porter ***, 5 Pm cask of Summit Great Northern Porter with black treacle ***, 6 pm keg of Bell's Expedition Stout 2007 ***+ (this had matured so nicely and was so tasty it was a beautiful beer) and a 2008 keg ***, 7pm Surly Smoke Baltic Porter **+(not as good as at the brewery on Darkness day. The other beers on draft were Surly Darkness Russian Imperial Stout***+, Leininkugel's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout **, North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout***, Moylan's (CA) Ryan O'Sullivan's RIS***, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter**+, Summit Great Northern Porter**, Salopian Entire Butt English Porter**, Furthermore Three Feet Deep Smoked Stout* (too astringent, smoke not appealing), Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout***+(this was so amazingly good), Surlyy Coffee Bender*(Too much coffee with my beer), Flat Earth Cygnus X-1 Rye Porter**+, Southern Tier Oatmeal Stout ***, Lion Stout(One of my all time favorites)***, Bell's Java Stout (too astringent coffee had a bad effect on this beer)*. Thom and I played some bagpipe tunes and had a good time. We were joined by Damian & Jen (preggers), and Doug.

After awhile we went over to Town Hall and had some food and you guessed it - more beer. I had a pint of stout (always good). We were joined by Katherine, Colleen, and Brent. The menu has changed and it was all very good. I had half a walleye sandwich with Brent, sweet potato fries, and deep fried green beans with spicy dipping sauce.

I worked on DeDe's yard on Saturday with DeDe, Damian, and Ava. Greg the electrician switched the boxes and updated the electrical for the house. On Sunday, Katherine and I worked all day on the yard and started to put the yard away for a long winter's nap. I visited Mike in the hospital and dropped off presents of leaves for everyone. Whew!!!!