Beer of the Weekend #420: Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Four twenty. Huh huh.
The beer tonight is the last Boston-brewed beer in my fridge: Samuel Adams Holiday Porter, brewed by the Boston Brewing Company of Boston, Massachusetts.
Tonight I am using one of my Becker glasses for the hell of it. My Becker glasses rarely get any love.
I am looking forward to this one. I have not drank a lot of dark beer this winter, mostly because I can never remember what I have and have not tried. Last week, I made a list of beers I am interested in trying and compared it to my BotW “master list” so I know which ones I have yet to try. I need to do that with stouts and porters.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The “enjoy before month notched” is “MAY.”
Appearance: Poured into a Becker glass. The color is deep, ruby brown. Two fingers of dense, billowy, light tan head dissipated slowly, leaving trails of foam along the glass and a frothy, cappuccino-like ring around the edge.
Smell: At first it smells like a dark English pale ale. Lots of toffee, caramel, and grassy hops. As it warms, scents of vanilla, honey, dark fruit (mostly plum), chocolate, and roasted malts emerge.
Taste: Excellent mouthfeel. The bitterness from the roasted malts lingers after the first sip. The roasted malts play a much more prominent role in the flavor than they do in the smell, which I like. Caramel, toffee, dark fruit, a hint of grassy hops, chocolate, and a little coffee.
Drinkability: I like it. It is not heavy but does provide a lot of nice flavor.
Fun facts about SAHP:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Porter.”
-Price: No clue.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Samuel Adams says, “Highlight the spicy and savory flavor of a great chili with the deep roasted character of a Holiday Porter.”
-IBU: 40.
-Color: 55 SRM.
-Calories: 212 per 12-ounce bottle.
-First brewed in 2004, SAHP is only available November to January in the winter variety packages.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
The beer tonight is the last Boston-brewed beer in my fridge: Samuel Adams Holiday Porter, brewed by the Boston Brewing Company of Boston, Massachusetts.
Tonight I am using one of my Becker glasses for the hell of it. My Becker glasses rarely get any love.
I am looking forward to this one. I have not drank a lot of dark beer this winter, mostly because I can never remember what I have and have not tried. Last week, I made a list of beers I am interested in trying and compared it to my BotW “master list” so I know which ones I have yet to try. I need to do that with stouts and porters.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. The “enjoy before month notched” is “MAY.”
Appearance: Poured into a Becker glass. The color is deep, ruby brown. Two fingers of dense, billowy, light tan head dissipated slowly, leaving trails of foam along the glass and a frothy, cappuccino-like ring around the edge.
Smell: At first it smells like a dark English pale ale. Lots of toffee, caramel, and grassy hops. As it warms, scents of vanilla, honey, dark fruit (mostly plum), chocolate, and roasted malts emerge.
Taste: Excellent mouthfeel. The bitterness from the roasted malts lingers after the first sip. The roasted malts play a much more prominent role in the flavor than they do in the smell, which I like. Caramel, toffee, dark fruit, a hint of grassy hops, chocolate, and a little coffee.
Drinkability: I like it. It is not heavy but does provide a lot of nice flavor.
Fun facts about SAHP:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Porter.”
-Price: No clue.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.8 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Samuel Adams says, “Highlight the spicy and savory flavor of a great chili with the deep roasted character of a Holiday Porter.”
-IBU: 40.
-Color: 55 SRM.
-Calories: 212 per 12-ounce bottle.
-First brewed in 2004, SAHP is only available November to January in the winter variety packages.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
