Samuel Adams Holiday Porter Review

Brewery: Boston Brewing Co. | Beer: Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Style: English Porter | ABV: 5.8% | IBUs: 35
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

Showing up every winter for the last six years in Sam Adams' mixed seasonal pack, Holiday Porter has built a reputation as one of the brewery's best beers. It's what Sam Adams describe as a traditional-style British Porter and was brewed as a tribute to the original beers and those it was named after.

While it's still pretty far from the holiday season, the unseasonably cool weather here in Houston has me in a wintry mood, so I figured it was as good a time as any to post my notes from the 2008 batch.

There's a pretty complicated ingredient list behind the beer. The backbone is built from Two-Row Harrington, Metcalfe, Copeland, Caramel 60, Munich 10, and Carafa malt varieties along with flaked oats to help round everything off. It's hopped with East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, and Spalt Spalter noble nops, with more Goldings added during a bout of dry-hopping. As usual, everything is brought to life with the house ale yeast.

Here's how the describe the finished product:

Robust and full bodied. Deep, rich and roasty malt balanced with traditional English ale hops and a touch of German Noble hops.

It's still not December yet, but let's dig in anyway.

Appearance: A murky, deep dark brown body that blocks most light, except for a few ruby highlights. Up top, two solid fingers of tan-tinged head with good retention and great lacing.

Aroma: Equal proportions of roasted malt, milk chocolate and toffee with some hints of dark fruit and nuttiness thrown into the mix.

Taste: The taste follows the aroma well, but is a little less sweet and adds a mild coffee dimension. This is very much a Porter, but perhaps a little lighter in intensity than usual. The aftertaste is nicely roasty and nutty.

Mouthfeel: A silky body that's perhaps a little fuller than medium accompanied by smooth carbonation. Dries in the finish.

Drinkability: Securely in the middle of the drinkability spectrum.

Verdict: Holiday Porter is certainly a welcome inclusion in the Sam Adams Winter seasonal pack and fits the season well. But, that being said, I can see why they don't offer it year-round - it's just not very compelling.

Grade: B-

Note: While the review above is being posted in October 2010, the tasting notes contained within were taken when the beer was fresh in December 2008.

Fuller's London Porter Review

Brewery: Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC | Beer: London Porter
Style: English Porter | ABV: 5.4%
Serving Method: 12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass

The Porter style has quite a unique origin. In the London of the 1700's, stale (or soured) Ale was mixed with a mild Ale and either a Brown or Pale Ale. This witches' brew of old and new became quite popular with the city's porters, hence the name. Porters were dark, malty, bitter and, thanks to the stale ale, mildly acidic. These qualities helped to mask some of the cloudiness and other imperfections associated with the blending process. As time went on and the public's tastes shifted, Porter became something of an endangered species. However, with the craft-brewing renaissance of the last 30 years, Porter has made quite a comeback.

Well-regarded in beer geek circles, Fuller's London Porter is one of the best known examples of the style today. Fuller's pitch the beer as "captur[ing] the flavors of the original entire brews perfectly, although you won't find a cloudy pint these days!" Fuller's still brews at the storied Griffin Brewery, the oldest brewery in London. Beer has been brewed at the Chiswick brewery for over 350 years. I doubt that the six pack I picked up here in South Texas made the journey from London, but a man can dream can't he?

Appearance: Dark espresso colored with subdued brown highlights, this bear absorbs most light well. The caramel head pours rather thin and settles quickly, but leaves brilliant lacing all the way down.

Aroma: Rich and full-bodied toasted malt you could smell from three pints away. Sweet, with notes of burnt sugar, dark chocolate, coffee, and the smokiness you get from very dark malts. Just what you expect from this style. Despite the mild alcohol content, you get nice alcohol notes in the nose.

Taste: It's much the same in the taste, but with a brilliant mild and nutty bitterness added into the mix. Much richer than the aroma, this is a beer that commands your attention. Like the nose, there are occasional boozy notes that manifest themselves despite the the ABV weighing in at under six percent. The aftertaste lasts well into your next sip and really showcases the coffee and smokiness. This aftertaste alone is better than many of the beers I've reviewed here.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and medium-bodied with decent carbonation. It leaves a velvety coating on your tongue that drives the aforementioned aftertaste.

Drinkability: Porters are certainly more appropriate for sipping than chugging, but with the medium body and middling alcohol content, this is surprisingly quaffable.

Verdict: An above average Porter, this is something I'd surely recommend for someone looking for a good, easily available example of the style. Rich, but well-balanced, this beer is a complex treat and worthy of its reputation.

Grade: A-