Day 88: Smuttynose Robust Porter

Name: Robust Porter

Brewer: Smuttynose Brewing Co - New Hampshire

Style: Porter

Alcohol Content: 5.7%


Review: So, I'm feeling kind of drunk right now. 9 hours of work in the lab and then 4 hours of accounting class. Our midterm is on Tuesday. Geez, already. Credit this, debit that, accrue this, don't select FIFO during periods of inflation because of increased tax expenses that. In other words, I'm brain dead, and in a state of overall haziness. My beer options for tonight consisted of +8% alcohol and +16 oz beers. I selected the 26.4oz 8.5% Golden Monkey. It's Thursday, and I'm kicking ass at school/work, and it's raining for the 100000th day in a row, so I can't ride, so I deserve to celebrate. So, what's in that picture anyway? I think my woman brought food home or something and I put it on a plate. I can't tell. Where the hell did I take that photo? God I'm getting old. Oh, check this out. I started playing intramural softball for the summer. My 6'7", 200 lb labmate (aka Skelator), hit a homerun. Not to be outdown, I fired a shot into left center, rounded first, and took off for what I thought was 2nd base. With the overgrown grass I failed to see that 2nd base was actually 10 feet to my left. My cleatless shoes slipped and I effed up my leg, so now it matches my right one. I ended up settling for a triple. If ONLY that was the outcome of 9th inning, 2 out homerun that the Arkansas kid hit against UVa, in what ultimately ended up being an Arkansas win. Fuuuuuuck. Oh well, a CWS appearance is still a CWS appearance. So, you're probably wondering how the beer tasted. Before I answer that, did I mention that it is raining today? Yeah, it's been raining a lot. We're already well passed our normal precipitation for the month of June, and it's only June 18th. Ok, I'm done with my useless drunk prattle. Here's my review. I have fond memories of drinking Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale at Mellow Mushroom. I think it helped define some of the best times of my life actually. I had high hopes for the Robust Porter. Naturally, it's a low-carbonation, black beer with strong chocolate aroma and some slight coffee notes. It has a smooth thick mouth feel which give way to a rich toasty chocolate flavor with some coffee notes. I'd say that it's almost a tad bit smokey. It also leaves a toasty, slightly bitter malt flavor in the end. Pretty good. 4 stars. I went camping last weekend. We hiked a ton and feasted even more. We also smoked cigars. I don't smoke, and the cigars were strong, and I ended up losing complete use of my legs. Buzzes are weird. They can energize you, chill you out, or render you completely incapacitated. Oh, and one last thing, I recommend making this cake if you have some spare berries and a few extra minutes. The pictures are very tempting, and the final output is actually quite tasty. Give it a shot.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/05/raspberry-buttermilk-cake/

Rating: 3.75/5

Recommend? YES