Harwood Myth

Porter was invented by Ralph Harwood as a substitute for "three threads"... or at least that's what most beer writers have been parroting since 1802. In 1802, John Feltham put out a guidebook called The Picture of London, including a section on porters (which was appropriate, it being an extremely popular style of beer in London at the time). Feltham made this claim about the origins of porter, which is not backed up by any evidence. This origin story was most likely based on a lack of technical knowledge and a misunderstanding of terminology by Feltham, explaining why there are no sources in the over eighty years since the origin of porter and Feltham's claim. So, despite the claims of most histories of porter for the last 200 years, Ralph Harwood inventing porter is a myth, leading to another origin story (or the origin of a name, at least):

Urban Chestnut's Harwood Myth is an English-style, Brown Porter with 5.5% ABV and 28 IBU.

I enjoyed Harwood Myth served from a bottle. It poured a very dark brown (not terribly surprising, it being a porter). The thick, light tan head had good retention and lacing. The nose had roasty malts. Harwood Myth has nice roasty and malty flavors, and finishes with some chocolate and a very light hoppiness. It had medium carbonation, and a light body (possibly a little too light).

I have always found many beers labeled as porters to be much more light-bodied than I'm expecting based on their aroma and flavor (I'm not going to get started on the difference (or lack thereof) between porters and stouts). This has always been a little bit off-putting, but I found Harwood Myth to be a very good porter.  I'll be keeping an eye out for Harwood Myth at my local stores.

I gave it a 4.

The Big Guy: This was a pretty impressive version of a porter. So often dark beers turn into big sweet malt bombs. Not true with Harwood Myth. This porter from UCBC has huge roasted flavors. It comes off like unsweetened dark chocolate, roasty notes and some nutty flavors. The body is surprisingly light and crisp, which is very nice. Its almost sessionable, but it packs a ton of complex flavors in a very easy drinking brew. This is a very complex and tasty 3.5

References:
Martyn Cornell, "Porter Myths and Mysteries", Brewery History.
"Porter (beer)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Jan. 2014.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Coconut Porter

Congratulations to Great Crescent Brewing Company in Aurora IN. They turned five years old last week and threw one heck of a party at their brewery in Southern IN. We haven't really highlighted Great Crescent here before, but its not because their beer isn't good, its because they're so close to Cinci its hard to get to them on a regular basis and they don't distribute much in the Indy metro area, because they go through Starlight distribution. They are little bit easier to find down in Bloomington at the main Big Red.

One of my friends, Parker, had been looking for the Bourbon Barrel Coconut Porter since they brought some to the CANvitational. Since I was driving into Cinci for work, I decided to take a few minutes and stop by the brewery to see what I could get. There were three cases left, and I took half of them to bring back to Indy folks.

The standard coconut porter is 5.6% abv, but this bourbon barrel aged version has been jacked up. It comes in at about 9.5% abv with a big imperial porter flavor. It pours out dark as motor oil with a nice short sticky tan head. It smell like roasty, vanilla, oak and just a bit of nice toasted coconuts.

The flavor is super sweet and malty upfront. This could be a dessert all by itself, and that's totally what I'm looking for in this kind of a beer. My favorite part of this beer is how the coconut is perfectly balanced. It's nothing overpowering or fake tasting but its definitely there adding a nice roasted note to a great porter. One of the biggest problems I had with the Stone Coconut IPA was the lack of coconut flavor. The coconut in this beer delivers a nice light nuttiness that really hits the spot. It blends perfectly with the big bitter chocolaty notes of the beer. It reminds me of a bitter sweet almond joy.

This guy was pretty hard to get but well worth the effort. Great beer, and I give it a solid 4

The Scene: People's Brewing Company

I am an IU guy and because of that I haven't really had much People's beer. I didn't really give them a fair shake until I had Captain Black Strap and Notorious BIP, which are amazing brews. Once I had these I knew I had to go check them out. It doesn't hurt that my wife is a PU grad and she still has friends that are up in the area.

People's brewery is a little spot tucked away in Lafayette. You pull up to a big garage door with their logo painted on it in a fairly industrial area. Their brewery is like the Cheers of Indiana craft beer. It has an awesomely friendly vibe right when you walk in. The tapping room is intimate without being claustrophobic with a bar for about six people and a handful of tables.

The style inside was industrial with a rustic bent and plenty of local photography and more Purdue propaganda than an IU guy can normally handle. Everything was cozy enough to make me want to sit and drink all night. The bartender was friendly and helpful. He made a great recommendation with the Parishioner's Porter on Nitro for my first pint. It was robust and dark with a nice mix of sweetness and coffee bitterness. I give it a solid four out of five. Some of our fellow patrons at the bar even struck up a conversation with us People's newbies. That kind of stuff always reminds me how much I love craft beer people.

What really impressed me though was the number of open taps. So often you go to a brewery and only find a few brews on tap. We ordered two flights on top of my pint. When we got the two flights, the bartender was good enough to mix it up since the flight only held six glasses and they had ten beers on tap. Also, the glasses were a pretty generous size, probably four ounces. The three of us passed the tasting glasses around to try everything they had to offer and their beers were excellent.

I was starting to regret not going up sooner to check them out. Overall it was an outstanding drinking experience. I ended up picking up a shirt so I could represent properly. After our stop at People's we went over to 9 Irish Brothers, a local Irish restaurant (by the way the food was excellent). When I got there, I found out they also had a People's brew on tap that was only available in the restaurant. It was their Irish Red and it was fantastic. I had been impressed with some of their brews, and I really liked the nitro porter, but Nine Irish Red was a stand-out. It was probably one of the best Irish reds that I've had. I totally see why People's is taking over the scene up in Lafayette.

Thanks for doing it right guys!

3Beans

It's been a long time coming since our Resin post...

3Beans by Sixpoint Brewing out of Brooklyn, NY is a Baltic Porter on a rotational release schedule from Sixpoint's canning line.

What does rotational mean exactly?  It's kinda like seasonal but you may see it multiple times in a year for limited periods.

For that matter what is a Baltic Porter?  Baltic Porters are >7% ABV porters.  Baltic porters were brewed strong in the late 1700's to be shipped across the North Sea, hence the name.

After pouring out this dark brown brew the nose assaults you immediately.  Light coffee and hop aromas with a subtle malty sweetness.  There were notes of fresh green wood. Strange I know.

The body is medium to heavy.  Sweet coffee/malty goodness hit the palette with notes of chocolate.
It finishes with coffee acidic dryness that sits on the back and sides of the palette.  I honestly felt like tossing in some coffee grounds for good measure!  The overall beer presentation is delightful!  After the first sip it makes me think of a nice creamy latte with two shots of espresso meets a dry stout.

I should clarify for everyone involved that this is 10% ABV.  Do not go off half-cocked and think you should have two of these in a row in a short amount of time.  3Beans ABVs are like cowboy coffee's caffeine.  If you are not anticipating the ABV's it will sneak up and put the beer goggles on you faster than you can say "Hey watch this!"

Great combination from the Mad Scientists over at Sixpoint Brewing!  An enthusiastic 4.5!



The Big Guy: Beans, beans the magical fruit... you know where I'm going here. 3Beans proved that beans may in fact be a  magical fruit. You've probably heard of coffee porters, and coco porters, with 3 beans they added one more bean. Sixpoint added Romano beans, which have historically been substituted for some of the heavier grains by brewers in the Northern parts of Europe when they had poor grain harvests. They were found to also to increase fermentation and add additional body to the beer. It takes balls to add additional body to a beer this big. The beer itself was thick and rich. It poured out like motor oil. The Romano beans really did their part.

It was really cool that Sixpoint was willing to do something a little bit crazy and go old school with their ingredients. If you like a cocoa porter, or a coffee porter, or even just a big rich beer, you should definitively give this one a try. I give it a solid four.

The Devil Made Me Do It!!!

This fiendish brew's full title is: "The Devil Made Me Do It Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter."  A name whose length Dickens would be proud of, and yes, I did want to humbly ask, "Can I have some more, sir?"

This beer is crazy.  Crazy smart.  All the flavors complement each other well.  This is probably the most approachable of their Brewer's Gone Wild Series.

Like all of Tyranena's Brewer's Gone Wild Series, the beers always start with a good backbone.  It is a solid porter before you fill it full of delicious things.  It smelled divine.  Dark chocolate, roasted coffee, earthyness.  It's pitch black filled the glass intimidatingly, but went down easy with no fight.  Bold chocolate and coffee oozed out from the beginning, and folded into cream, burnt caramel, and oat.  There was a boozy burn the whole way through which complemented such a velvety mouth to the beer.

If you're a fan of porters, or a dark beer that is more flavor than chewy, this is a solid stand out.  It's not as funky or "wild" as I would like to see out of this series, but it's a solid beer.

I give it a 4.

Weigh in:  O-Dawg

Its just so damn good!  El Duque hit most of it all on the head, but I will paraphrase my taste of this delectable brew.  Burnt coffee nose.  Silky chocolate.  Fizzy finish.  Coats the mouth with coffee and coco.  Just a little spice heat at the close.

I have to Eco the Dolphin El Duque this time around, 4.

Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter

I love when brewers get batshit crazy and make beers that buck style and try to create something fun and delicious.

Notice I didn't say "I love to drink..." because lets be honest, six beers in, drunken brainstorming of ideas of malt and hop combos, or what to throw in the fermenters followed by oohs and ahhs are fun until you actually drink that I'd swill and realize that the Germans may be onto something with their strict beer laws.

For a creative beer to be successful it has to have three things: 1.) A base ale that is actually good on its own 2.) Flavors that make sense to the most sober of Debbie Downers and 3.) Artistry.

Tyranena's Brewers Gone Wild series has been doing a good job of nailing all three of those things and making my liquor store trips way more fun.  Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter is exceptionally dynamic and surprising with its exceptionally nuanced flavors.

It poured black and the head was extremely interesting.  It was like a root beer float.  Foamed up, and as fast as it fluffed up, is fell apart into a thin like of lacing.  When I got a good whiff, it was full of chocolates and malt and smoke and.... no pepper?  Most pepper ales I've had have been like snorting Stake'n'Shake pepper juice, so I was worried how the taste would lay itself out.

My first reaction was that this was a really good imperial porter.  Chocolatey notes, mixed with deep, smooth, and creamy malts.  It was like porter ice cream and the smoke was just enough to help enhance those flavors.  Too many times I shy away from smoked beers because I'm not a big fan of drinking campfires, but this was a great example of how smoke can smooth a beer out and help combine those big beer flavors.  As the beer was on its way out, its friends Booze and Chipotle showed up.

The most surprising thing about this was how there were so many flavors and they were all combined so subtly it create a nuanced beer that is billed as "a series of big, bold, ballsy beers."  All the flavors were soft, but wrapped together, left you with a rich and warm feeling, so yeah, this beer is camping, and I'm okay with that.

Word of advice: Let this sit out of the fridge for 10-15 minutes.  A little warmth and air really bring out those subtle flavors some more.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.  Sheer artistry in this one.

O-Dawg:  Smoked Coffee nose with a little Mexican heat at the end.  Tasty and balanced overall.  Easy choice to give it a 4.  If you are looking for a similar character only in an IPA I would suggest Hatch Blower by Triton Brewing.

The Big Guy: I'm with El Duque, this beer was really well done. I found the smoke to be perfectly balanced with the porter. I think the amped up imperial side gave it a nice big backbone to round out the smoked malts. I would have liked to see a bit more Chipotle flavor in it, but not a huge deal. Solid beer. I give it a 3.5

My week with Bloomington Brewing Co. (Part I)

Out of pure universal convergence, I ended up drinking most of Bloomington Brewing Co. offerings in one week... and it was awesome.

This post is an amalgam of sorts.  It doesn't really fit into our usual forms.  It's more of an anecdote that winds through a lot of what we talk about here on the blog.  I would piece it out, but the gestalt is way more interesting than just a review of a nitro pour java stout (oh yes, we will get to that).

I celebrated Presidents Day by helping some friends find a place to live in Bloomington and day drinking at Lenny's, the restaurant that is the one half of the sympathetic symbiosis with the other being Bloomington Brewing Co.(BBC).  Of course the food was great.  Of course that could have been because I ordered and drank most of a flight on an empty stomach.  The food was trumped by the two highlights of my tasting,  the Java Porter, and the Ole Floyd Belgian Strong Ale.

The Java Porter was excellent.  Creamy head and mouth feel.  Strong chocolate malt and coffee nose.  It was a wonderful combination of boozey coffee and sweet syrup smoothness.

Then it went next level with a Nitro pour of the Java Porter.

This brew really benefited from such a smooth pour.  The mouth feel was like cream taken from the rivers of heaven.  Seriously.  It was nice to have such a velvety background to launch all those aforementioned flavors to the front.  The same could be said for their Big Stone Stout.  With CO2, it was kind of watery, but with the Nitro, it was very smooth, and richer to taste.  Truly a treat.

I would give the Nitro Java Stout a 4.5, without nitro, a solid 4.




The new specialty beer was their Ole Floyd Belgian Strong Ale.  Belgian Strong Ales have become a new crush of mine, so I was excited to taste BBCs new offering.

It smelled like boozey and sweet and felt the same.  The taste was rich and complex.  The candy sugars added more to the complexity of the taste than to syrupy sweetness, which was also helped by the alcohol cutting through the malts and sugars.  It was like a beer port and was very enjoyable.

I would easily give it a 4



In order to shorten the post, I will continue in Part II, when, a week later, I accidently stumble into a BBC tap takeover and one of the brewers set up shop next to me and chatted me up

Alpha Klaus

I admit that I am totally biased towards beers brewed here in the great state of Indiana. I am also super biased to Three Floyd's, since it was the first brewery that I made an effort to visit. I consider their Christmas beer, Alpha Klaus, to be a gift given directly to me from them.

Alpha Klaus pours out a dark red almost black oily color with a light tan head. The head sits atop the beer like dirty snow covering a dark mud puddle... sorry not my best analogy. It left lacing up to the top of the glass like frost on the window... better. It had a abv of 6% and 38 IBUs.

The beer smells like chocolate and grapefruit hops with a bit of piney-ness. It smelled hoppier than most of the Christmas beers I've had this season. It was also a bit thinner and more effervescent than I expect from a Christmas porter.

The flavor has a citrus hop flavor up front, which when mixed with the aroma this can be pretty intense. It moves into a chocolatey malt flavor with some nice winter spices. In a lot of holiday beers the brewers go a bit overboard with the spice. I get it, spice is what makes it a holiday beer, but make sure it tastes like a beer first. This one did a good job with that. From that spicy note it moved back to the citrus and pine hop flavor. It closes with a subtle dryness that reminds me of bitter sweet chocolate. It leaves a bit of a bitter flavor on your tongue that just seems to make me thirsty for another sip.

This is a fun and unique holiday beer. I don't know that I would be excited to drink it all the time, but it will always make me smile during the holiday season.







Hoppier than I like but I give it a 3.5

Nitro Porter

Ok, so when a man meets a beer, and they decide they love each other and its time to make little manbeers they go into private and have special alone time...

That is the time I had with Nitro Porter from Flat 12 Beerwerks. My wife and I both got one along with some soft pretzels at one of my favorite places to grab something to eat . This porter had a beautiful dark coloring and a ton of head, but that was to be expected since the porter was coming off the nitro tap. A nitro beer has had nitrogen added instead of carbon dioxide. This makes for a different feel a little different flavor to the beer. I love it on anything heavier.

The aroma was sweet and bready with a hint of chocolate. When I tasted it, I started to feel guilty, like I was somehow cheating on my dinner. It had a wonderful sweetness and roasted malt flavor to it that almost made the beer taste like a chocolaty ice cream Sunday. It had hints of nuttiness and caramel. It was rich and creamy, although some of that could have been because of the nitro tap. This was an excellent porter verging on a stout. There was not much hop flavor to the beer, but it seemed well put together and balanced.

The head was even rich and creamy, and it never seamed to leave...

Ever...

That was great head!

The beer took a little bit longer to come out because it was a nitro, but it was well worth the wait. Anyone with a serious sweet tooth needs to grab one of these no tap and just enjoy.

I give it a 4 1/2

Total Disorder Porter

The Ram's Total Disorder Porter is an American Porter with 5.10% ABV.  Its bitterness is 28 IBU, and the color is 80 SRM.

The Total Disorder Porter is very dark brown.  It has a very light brown head, which settles fairly quickly with light lacing.  There is a coffee flavor to the aroma.  The taste has roasted malt and hints of chocolate, but is dominated by coffee, with a dry finish.  This is a medium bodied beer, and is reasonably high in carbonation (though, for some reason, after sitting in an almost empty growler for several days, the last glass had lost quite a bit of carbonation).

Fairly mild for a porter, except for the strong coffee flavor, the Total Disorder Porter goes down easily.  The ABVs aren't too high for a porter, which, along with it's mildness, make it easy to drink quite a few of these in a night.  This is probably my favorite of the Ram's normal lineup.