Anchor Porter

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Porter
San Francisco, California USA

Serve in English pint, Stem glass

Lovely balance of port and mocha-like flavors. Warm and rich, lovely color, too, although a slightly thin body. Very much won my approval. (on tap, Flying Saucer, Addison, TX)

Bottle. Strong dark chocolate and some roast in a scrumptious nose, lots of malt. On the browner side of barely-translucent red, dark with a creamy, rocky light brown head. Really a superb head, spoonable and worthy of a dozen pictures. Lots of chocolate and light roast in the mouth, medium-light body (somewhat watery) with a dry, woody, toffee-and-roast aftertaste. Dark chocolate note is lasting and is always lurking somewhere. Tons of malt, light bitterness with a touch of terminal hoppiness. Rich for a porter, but not overly so. Touch of acidity and slightly less mocha. Balanced and smooth. Rather robust but with concomitant complexity. I don’t feel the slightest bit of regret about slapping down a high score - this is a true classic!

UPDATED: FEB 2, 2008 Chocolate and roasted malts, sweet with bit of vanilla though slight metallic nose. Dark brown-black with big, lacing frothy light brown head. Medium-light oily body with low-med carb. Mellow roastiness with mild coffee-like bitterness. Sweet to start followed by smooth sweet nutty after. A very nice porter.

Updated on 2008-02-02: Either the recipe has changed a bit or I’m just not as impressed as before; Downgraded my numbers to 3.8 from 4.2. Still a nice porter, but not as "wow" as I thought in the earlier days.

12oz bottle, purchased from Whole Foods? Pours a deep, dark brown color; significant, foamy, textured, small-bubbled light-tan head with great retention and lacing; gorgeous pour on this. Hugely charismatic malt character in the aroma, but also a minimal yeast fruitiness that suggests very low, lager-like fermentations (that seems on par for Anchor, though I don’t know all that much about their brewing techniques across their entire lineup): creamy nougat, toffee, non-bitter chocolate, and caramel, with a significant melanoidin contribution, it seems, with a very light hop presence and a very clean yeast character; clean, well-developed maltiness, and a touch of dark fruits in the nose. Medium to medium-full body; average levels of carbonation; creamy, and entirely non-astringent despite the heavy contributions from darker specialty malts; very smooth in the mouth; there is a significant bittering quality here, suggestive of minerals and mint that hints at the Northern Brewer hops used in Anchor Steam: not resiny or dank, but pleasantly expressed; following the nose, the maltiness is lovely and well-grown: toffee, caramel, and a melanoidin bock-like presence, coupled to the darker chocolate (non-bitter) and very light roasted qualities; the yeast is generally clean, perhaps contributing a touch of red apple, but again I think low fermentation temps. really keep the yeast contributions in check; overall, a creamy, impressively rich porter that I greatly enjoy but doesn’t (ultimately) take me to that 4.0+ range; but lovely anyway. I’d love to know more about their mashing and fermentation practices. Lasting finish of caramel, non-bitter chocolate, toffee, a touch of mint.

Almost black with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Dry and bitter finish. 291108

36cl, American brew, from Bierzwerg Greven, not complex Porter, sweet/malty and slightly roasted/fruity, easy to drink, balanced, clear, good head, good brew

12oz bottle from The Party Source. Pours dark brown with a medium tan head. Incredibly malty aroma with vanilla and some roastiness. Flavor is of malt, a bit of alcohol, vanilla, chocolate and coffee in the finish. Very good.

Aroma: Weak. Hard to distinguish anything. (Bar caused?) Appearance: Thin, non-existent head. Dark black color. Palate: thick mouthfeel, a little dry. Flavor: almost like a typical porter + anchor steam mixed together. Complex vanilla and roasted nut malt. Overall, I gave this a good score because it tasted good.