Puffers Smoked Porter

Beer Name: Puffers Smoked Porter
Brewery: Amherst Brewing Company
ABV: 4.6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

From one dark beer to another, I followed my stout with a porter. As a matter of fact, I believe that stouts and porters were originally the same style of beer. Or not, as there is a lot of disagreement on this particular issue. We can agree on one thing though, and that is the both styles are dark and heavy in the roasted aroma department.

Puffers Smoked Porter is a very dark beer, bordering on black. It arrived with no head, and didn't leave any lacing on the glass. The aroma here is extra chocolatey, with strong roasted malt notes.

The roasted flavor here is the dominant one. There's some coffee and chocolate, and lots of roasted malt. This beer has a much more mild finish than the stout did, without the bitter finish. The whole pint was very smooth and uncarbonated, making it super easy drinking. As the beer warms up, a nice sweetness enters into the flavor.

Final thought - For a fairly low ABV beer, this one has a lot of nice things going on. I think it will be one of my top ABC choices in the future.

-Jon

Two Sisters

Beer Name: Two Sisters Imperial Stout
Brewery: Amherst Brewing Company
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Amherst Brewing Company calls this an imperial stout, but at 6.7%, I'm not sure it's quite high enough to actually get the classification. But I guess if they want to call it imperial, so be it.

Two Sisters is, like many stouts, a very opaque dark beer. Also like many stouts, it came with only a thin layer of head that remained for about the first half of the pint. Some of the head clung in a light lacing pattern, but only very faintly. The aroma of this beer is a heavy roasted chocolate one.

The flavor is also heavy on the roasted characteristics, but the chocolate flavor isn't sweet chocolate. Maybe dark chocolate, or baking chocolate. There's also a little bit of bitterness at the finish. The beer has a low carbonation, and it works very well paired with some food.

Final thought - Although I really don't think this classifies as an imperial stout, it still works well as a normal stout. Getting the beer fresh from the actual brewery also makes a difference, so I don't know what this would be like if I got a growler and brought it home. I think I'll probably just drink it at ABC and get other stouts for at-home drinking.

-Jon