Beer of the Weekend #192: Great Northern Porter
The beer of the weekend is Great Northern Porter, brewed by the Summit Brewing Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a faded batch code on the label, but nothing that is a discernible freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker. The color is an almost opaque black; just a little light passed through when I held it to my lamp, turning the beer a deep ruby. Three fingers of cappuccino colored head developed and dissipated to leave a bubbly lacing and trails of foam on the inside of the glass.
Smell: Just about what one expects form a porter, though the aroma is not as potent as other versions. Mostly roasted dark chocolate and cocoa, and a light sprinkling of coffee malts. It smells a little sweet and perhaps watered down.
Taste: The first sip is surprisingly, but not overpoweringly, bitter from the coffee malts. Though the bitterness sticks around for the rest of the pint, it plays a diminished role. The flavor mostly mirrors the smell: roasted dark chocolate, cocoa to sweeten the deal, and a little bit of coffee.
Drinkability: Very smooth drinking, but it is a little on the thin and predictable side. I like it, though.
Fun facts about GNP:
-Style: BA classifies GNP as an American Porter:
-Price: $6.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA suggests barbecue, buttery cheeses (Brie, Gouda, Havarti, Swiss), chocolate, beef, smoked meat, or grilled meat.
-IBU: 45.
-Gravity: 13.5º Plato.
-Color: 60 SRM. The GNP page on the Summit website lists color in “(DEG. L.).” “L.” stands for Lovibond, as in Joseph Lovibond, who developed the first color measurement for beer. According to Mosher’s Tasting Beer, the Lovibond and SRM measurements are almost exactly the same, so I am using SRM. Why Summit uses Lovibond is beyond me.
-Because the carrier says this style of porter “was a favorite of London train porters,” I assume GNP was named in honor of the Great Northern Railroad, which operated from Minnesota to Washington until 1970 when it merged with a number of other companies to form Burlington Northern.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a faded batch code on the label, but nothing that is a discernible freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker. The color is an almost opaque black; just a little light passed through when I held it to my lamp, turning the beer a deep ruby. Three fingers of cappuccino colored head developed and dissipated to leave a bubbly lacing and trails of foam on the inside of the glass.
Smell: Just about what one expects form a porter, though the aroma is not as potent as other versions. Mostly roasted dark chocolate and cocoa, and a light sprinkling of coffee malts. It smells a little sweet and perhaps watered down.
Taste: The first sip is surprisingly, but not overpoweringly, bitter from the coffee malts. Though the bitterness sticks around for the rest of the pint, it plays a diminished role. The flavor mostly mirrors the smell: roasted dark chocolate, cocoa to sweeten the deal, and a little bit of coffee.
Drinkability: Very smooth drinking, but it is a little on the thin and predictable side. I like it, though.
Fun facts about GNP:
-Style: BA classifies GNP as an American Porter:
Inspired from the now wavering English Porter, the American Porter is the ingenuous creation from that. Thankfully with lots of innovation and originality American brewers have taken this style to a new level. Whether it is highly hopping the brew, using smoked malts, or adding coffee or chocolate to complement the burnt flavor associated with this style. Some are even barrel aged in Bourbon or whiskey barrels. The hop bitterness range is quite wide but most are balanced. Many are just easy drinking session porters as well.
-Price: $6.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA suggests barbecue, buttery cheeses (Brie, Gouda, Havarti, Swiss), chocolate, beef, smoked meat, or grilled meat.
-IBU: 45.
-Gravity: 13.5º Plato.
-Color: 60 SRM. The GNP page on the Summit website lists color in “(DEG. L.).” “L.” stands for Lovibond, as in Joseph Lovibond, who developed the first color measurement for beer. According to Mosher’s Tasting Beer, the Lovibond and SRM measurements are almost exactly the same, so I am using SRM. Why Summit uses Lovibond is beyond me.
-Because the carrier says this style of porter “was a favorite of London train porters,” I assume GNP was named in honor of the Great Northern Railroad, which operated from Minnesota to Washington until 1970 when it merged with a number of other companies to form Burlington Northern.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
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