Honestly, I haven't delved into their offerings much until rather
recently. I'd look at their menu and see a whole lot of beers that were IPAs,
fruited, or loaded with additives, none of which appealed to me. It's not that there
were never any beers that I wanted to try, but few enough to put Delta down the
list of places to visit and sample. Then last autumn I was camping with a
friend who is thoroughly enamored of their Coffee-infused Brown Ale. She gave
me a can and I thought it was quite tasty. I gave more thought to making a trek
down to Badger Road. But Old Man Winter arrived and with it some of my favorite
beers such as Tippy Toboggan by Vintage, Sprecher's Winter Lager, and WinterSkål from Capital. Ergo Delta became something of an afterthought once more.
Recently I spied their English Style Porter at a grocery
store and took the plunge because it was additive free and how often do you
come across an English porter these days?
After tasting Delta's brew, I went to a local bottle shop with
a good reputation for fine beers and a large variety seeking an English English
porter. This place (Steve's Liquor on Junction Road) is the kind of establishment
that carries the Schlenkerla flown to the States and canned out in New England
for maximum freshness. When I asked about it, I kind of felt like I had farted
in church for a fraction of second. I guess even Fuller's London Porter hasn't
been seen in these parts in a while. The gentleman said that, even if some were
available, he doubted it'd be fresh. Bummer.
(I also inquired about German maibocks and will be getting a
call if/when any arrive.)
The term "porter" to describe a style of beer dates
back to 18th century London. It seems that the name was used to
describe the brown beers found around the city. My search for a more exact date
of when the term was first used on these beers has proven fruitless but they were
apparently quite popular with porters, people who lugged things around the city,
presumably to/from trains, barges, warehouses, shops and the like. It's kind of
ironic then, that a 4-pack of a beer named after a working class vocation of
people of modest means is now a low-level luxury good that costs $12.
Porters, of course, changed over time. They got hoppier,
they got darker and roastier, and so on. New Glarus took a shot at an 1870s
porter called Old English Porter back in 2009. Ten years later Goose Island brewed
Obadiah Poundage with beer historian Ron Pattinson, an attempt to recreate an
1840s porter. Both blended fresh and aged beers with the later being soured.
Today in Craftbeerland, the porter is a very dark, almost Stygian, beer, not
simply brown, that has a lot of roasted flavors, even some bitter, fuliginous
tastes from black patent malts and is decidedly not sour. Nor is it
particularly hoppy.
Since I failed to procure an English porter from England, I
am not sure what passes for a porter over in its homeland these days.
Delta Beer Lab's take on the style poured a nice, loose tan
head. It disappeared fairly quickly as one second I was inspecting the beer's
color and the next I looked up to see the head largely gone. That color was very
dark – a deep reddish brown that appeared black when staring at it head on –
and the beer was clear. Not particularly different from American porters thus
far.
Each tasted more or less the same. There was milk chocolate
with moderate sweetness. A little stonefruit and just a touch of fizz. Not much
bitterness in the herbal hoppiness but fairly smooth. After swallowing, I
tasted some bitterness from grassy hops along with some lingering chocolate.
Although it looked like your typical crafty porter, it tasted
very different. Instead of the dark chocolate, coffee, and slight smokiness of
what I think of as an American porter, this take on its English cousin is sweeter,
a little fruity, and mellower.
And, as with Mikey, I liked it. I think of this as being
like an amber ale made dark. It's 5.2% A.B.V., has a medium body, and wasn't
overly sweet so I didn't find it filling. I can imagine that a beer akin to
this would slake a working man's thirst and provide a little sustenance as
well.
Junk food pairing: You've gotta get a packet of cheese &
onion potato chips, er, crisps to go with your English porter.
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