Robust Porter

Beer Name: Robust Porter
Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company
ABV: 5.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 10/11

There was a Smuttynose tasting over at Ryan & Casey, so Kate and I got to taste test a bunch of there beers. Sadly for her, and awesomely for me, there was a porter, a pale ale and an IPA as 3 of the choices. She really needs to expand her beer palette. I guess that's up to me.

Robust Porter has a funny picture of an old-timey weightlifter on the bottle and is a very dark beer. Super dark. Like, stout dark. There is a little bit of head on it, but it fades pretty quickly. Even with this fast fading head, there is still a very heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is delicious chocolate and roasted malts.

This beer starts off with a bitter chocolate flavor upfront and sweetness in the middle. It finishes with roasted bitterness and an aftertaste of roasted malt. This beer feels very big in the mouth, with each taste seeming like a big event. There is a decent amount of carbonation here, appropriate for this style.

Final thought - This is a good beer, but it feels very heavy. After drinking it, I have a feeling like I just ate a big meal. I would drink it again though. As far as porters go, this one is near the top of the list.

-Jon

Imperial Stout

Beer Name: Smuttynose Imperial Stout
Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company
ABV: 9.8%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Bottled-conditioned in 2011

Time for a beer lesson! Most beer that you get has a shelf-life on it, and if you don't drink it pretty close to that window of time, you are going to be drinking some pretty bad tasting beer. By bottle conditioning the beer, the brewer keeps the yeast alive, which fights against the normal breakdown that leads to skunky beer. When it's done correctly, the beer will keep much longer, often for several years. The moral of this story is that since this beer was bottle conditioned (and I assume done correctly since these are professionals), the date it was bottled is immaterial.

Smuttynose's Imperial Stout is a very dark beer, bordering on solid black. It pours with a thick head that fades very slowly and leaves a sporadic lacing pattern that is very heavy where it sticks. There's a whole lot going on in the aroma here, including a heavy dose of chocolate, some light hoppiness, and a whiff of alcohol. It also has some roasted scents, mostly coffee, along with a bit of malt. It's very complex for my poor nose.

Several of the scents that were apparent in the aroma are also present for the taste. There's a sweetness at the beginning of each sip, but there's also a little bit of bitterness from the hops. The aftertaste of the beer has a little bit of coffee in it. This beer feels very heavy as I drink it, so it's not one to drink quickly. It's got a little bit of carbonation, but I wouldn't want much more. Even though it's strong, there isn't really a noticeable alcohol taste. And that's a good thing.

Final thought - I had told Kate that I needed a good beer to relax with after I got drenched (again!) at today's track meet, and this beer fit the bill nicely. This beer is a sipper, and absolutely perfect for watching the Bruins attempt to give everyone in Boston a heart attack. It's also another good example of how to make a strong stout without having the alcohol dominate the flavor. Delicious.

-Jon

Smuttynose IPA

Beer Name: Finestkind IPA
Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company
ABV: 6.9%
Serving method: 16-oz draft
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

See, I told you it was time to get serious. And back-to-back posts is the best way I know how to make that happen.

Smuttynose is one of the most hilariously named breweries around, and they have a little otter (or something similar) in their logo so they get to be on the list of beers I'll pretty much always try. The "Finestkind" IPA is a deep golden-orange beer with about 1/4" of head on the top. This lasted for a bit as well as leaving a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma here is the standard citrusy and piney hops of an IPA.

Whoa, this is a dry IPA. There isn't a whole lot of bitterness, but it's so dry that I almost needed a water afterwards to rehydrate my mouth. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But this is very dry. If you don't like your IPAs dry (think Stone IPA or Celebration Ale), then you'll want to skip this. As for drinkability, this beer has a medium carbonation and survives nicely as it warms up.

Final thought - This is an above average IPA, but I wouldn't rank it in the top tier of ones that I've tried. I'll drink it again though, because it was very enjoyable.

-Jon