Looks like Beer-of-the-Day is back! Tonight, I had 2 porters. One with dinner and one after dinner (and in just the right order too).
The first was Stone’s Smoked Porter. The beer pours a thick black with a nice 2 finger dark tan head. The smoky scents are right up front with some nice roasted malt in there as well. The flavor is absolutely great. Lots of smoked roasted malts with a slight hint of caramel and a touch of hops bitterness to round it off. It had a nice thick mouthfeel, just shy of being a stout. This is one incredible porter. I imagine it would go quite well with any kind of smoked meats.
The second beer was Saranac’s Caramel Porter. This one poured a little thiner with a smaller head. It’s still a dark beer, but not quite as dark as the previous one. Upon pouring, you immediately notice the caramel scents coming out, followed by some roasted coffee undertones. This holds true with the taste as well. The caramel flavors are up front, while after swallowing, you get a nice roasted coffee bitterness. I really enjoyed this one. Saranac is kind of a hit or miss brewery for me. Some of their beers are pretty good, while the others are really lackluster. Luckily, this was one of their better ones and one of the more interesting porters I’ve had. If anything could be fixed about it though, it’d be the thickness. It was a little thin for my tastes, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment.