Stoutmaker.beer

Been finding quite a few Porters hitting the shelves lately. One in particular caught my eye yesterday.

Proper Porter from Lakefront Brewery.

This Brewery has some good examples of various styles so expecting a decent beer here.

Opening the 12 oz bottle instantly gets you a nose of light roast. Curious, I somehow wasn’t expecting that from just cracking the bottle open.

Pouring into the shaker provided a foamy, almost rocky tan head that I would suspect would stick around for some time

Now that we have it out of the bottle, I was expecting more of that roast. But its actually more of a background thing. No hop. Slight grainy peeking through. A level of sweet that is just there enough to notice. This foamy head is definitely keeping aroma levels in check.

I wouldnt say it’s black. But it’s close enough. Ruby highlights and crystal clear. And the slow intermittent bubble of carbonation streaming up indicates a possibility lower carb level.

On first taste. I’m totally surprised. Not by overwhelming roast or a blast of hops.. but by how amazingly relaxed this beer is.

This is the kind of Porter that you found 20 years ago. Simple, solid. Hitting all the correct points and nothing out of balance.

Roast, sweetness, hop all staying just under the radar enough to let you get all three at the same time. While ever so slightly letting the yeast esters come through.

Almost chocolate but not quite, definite black roast, but not enough to stand out.

The carbonation is about as spot on as you could get for this medium bodied, mid gravity Porter.

These are the kinds of beers that craft brewing of old built its self on, but have seen to get away from. Fantastic, while not being gimmicky. Just letting the beer as a whole be the star,, not any one point taking over.

For me this is one of the best beers I have had in quite a while, and also one of the more ordinary… And that’s why I like it.

Take your 4.75! I’m going back for more of this.