Kev's Beer of the Week Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Bean

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/20/12

 

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

Kev Rating: B+
Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.90%
IBUs: 53

Availability: Limited
Had: Most recently purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Escondido, CA

The Stone Smoked Porter has always been a delicious offering from Stone - good in the bottle, great on tap!  It's a nice bridge between a Porter with smokey notes and a German style Rauchbier.  If you have been on the fence about trying something with "smoked" in the name, don't be, it's worth it.  

That brings us to the two variations Stone recently released in the bottle - Smoked Porter with Chipotle and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean.  Because I'm a week behind in my Beer's of the Week I'm doing a rapid fire - Chipotle for 7/13 week and Vanilla for 7/20 week.

Second up is the Smoked Porter made with Vanilla Bean.  I enjoyed this one a bit more than the Chipotle, but that shouldn't surprise too many of you.  It hit me more with the sweetness of the vanilla bean with some coconut which really enhanced the coffee and chocolate notes of the original porter. 

If you were slightly disappointed with the Maine Beer Co Mean Old Tom - less and less vanilla with each batch, then this one may remind you that you can put a bit more vanilla and not lose the original malt & chocolate notes you're looking for.  I even picked up another bottle to age for a bit to see if it matures.

Kev's Beer of the Week Smoked Porter w/ Chipotle Peppers

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/13/12

 

Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers

Kev Rating: B
Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.90%
IBUs: 53

Availability: Limited
Had: Most recently purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Escondido, CA

The Stone Smoked Porter has always been a delicious offering from Stone - good in the bottle, great on tap!  It's a nice bridge between a Porter with smokey notes and a German style Rauchbier.  If you have been on the fence about trying something with "smoked" in the name, don't be, it's worth it.  

That brings us to the two variations Stone recently released in the bottle - Smoked Porter with Chipotle and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean.  Because I'm a week behind in my Beer's of the Week I'm doing a rapid fire - Chipotle for 7/13 week and Vanilla for 7/20 week.

First off is the Smoked Porter made with Chipotle Peppers.  Now, most of you that know me know I will eat anything...except for spicy food.  I've had a few pepper beers before and some have been way too spicy for me (looking at you Throwback Brewery) and some have been great (Left Hand).  However, the Chipotle is there yet not the highlight of the show.  The always tasty Smoked Porter is still the main attraction but is balanced nicely with a bit of heat on the back wave of the sip.  You can still taste the chocolate and coffee notes from the Smoked Porter and as it warms get a bit more of the heat from the Chipotle peppers - really nice variation on the original. 

For those of you out there that want big bad pepper notes (looking at you JP & Nick), this one may disappoint, but for the rest of you that just want a hint of the Chipotle, this one hits the mark!

Slumbrew Porter Sq Porter

Continuing on my support local theme, next up is a Porter from the Somerville Brewing Company (aka Slumbrew).  

Slumbrew is a new addition to the Greater Boston brewing scene.  To describe their operation properly, here is a blurb from their very own website:  "The Somerville Brewing Company contracts with regional breweries to make the best recipes for wide-spread commercial release, but each recipe is an evolving process of refinement. This model for beer production provides an opportunity to experiment with innovative local ingredients to produce craft beers that stand apart from typical formulations." I'm hoping this mantra will bring some interesting and unique beers to the area for years to come.  I'm always willing to give an upstart a shot, so the first time I saw a Slumbrew beer at the store, I picked it up.  

The Porter Square Porter is one of the three beers currently being distributed by Slumbrew (they also have an IPA and a Hefeweizen).  If you've ever been to Porter Square, you know that A) there is a lot of traffic (people, cars, buses, bikes, etc) and B) that you'll always be able to find something good to eat & drink!  

As most of you know, I dig the dark beers, so this was an easy way to get me to try their beer.  When reading the label, I learned that the Porter was conditioned with cacao nibs from Taza Chocolate.  If you didn't read the lable first, believe me you'd still be able to taste the chocolate.  This one was very chocolatey on the nose and then a big roasted malt up front leading into a nice bitter chocolate - almost like popping a handful of morsels in your mouth (you know who you are).

I definitely recommend this Porter for people that don't love dark beer.  It's light, goes down easy, and has a great chocolate undertone throughout.  AND, it's LOCAL!

Kev Rating: B
Style: American Porter
ABV: 6.50%

IBUs: 31
Availability: Moderately easy to find at a store with a good Craft selection
Had: 22oz bottle purchased at Glendale Liquors in Waltham
Region: Somerville, MA