Saturday, December 26, 2009

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter

I've had this guy sitting in my fridge for way too long, but I didn't want to drink it without giving it a proper review. I don't know why, there really isn't anything special with it that I've heard, just that it was a solid brew from Sam Adams. I'll always hold Sam Adams near and dear to my heart because after years of downing piss water from the other major brewers, Boston Lager was the first beer I had that made me realize beer can have other tastes besides raccoon urine and bat feces. Granted, my palate has expanded greatly since then, but I always give kudos to the first macrobrewer to experiment with their beers.

Appearance: Pours with a dark brown color, you can barely make out the shadows on the other side of the glass when looking into the light, but for all intents and purposes, it's thick enough that you can't see through it. A ton of frothy light cream colored head that isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Smell: Chocolate and roasted nuts, with a little bit of sweet caramel, a very enjoyable scent to say the least.

Taste: Less chocolate, more roasted nuts and sweetness, none of which is too overpowering, and a little bit of resin hop flavors that also provide a bitterness on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, crisp, clean, a little dry on the aftertaste, well carbonated, no real heavy alcohol bite.

Drinkability: "This robust brew was the London porters' drink of choice after their long work days and it will keep you warm on any wintry day." The back label says it all, this is an easy drinking porter that will warm the soul on a cold winter day. There are some very good flavors here, and none that are too overpowering or strong that will make you avoid having another one. 5.8% abv also won't stop you from having a couple more, hell you could even use it as a winter session beer. The only thing that may be a negative is that each sip is the same as the previous one, which could bore some of you enthusiasts looking for something more from their beer. Overall, I do give it a solid 8/10, and will continue to look for this for the rest of the season.

Serving type: Bottle
Glass type: Sam Adams glass

1 comment:

Jimmy said...

hahahahhaha "...raccoon urine and bat feces." Still can't believe we made it out of college alive.

Anyways, solid review Mikey and I am on the same page that Sam will always stand by my side because it was one half of my training wheels (other half is Magic Hat) towards enjoying craft beer. I wonder if I could grab a six pack of this to warm me up in my poorly insulated house and not have to buy the Holiday Sampler because I despise their Old Fezzwig.