I get home at 5 o'clock and I take myself out a cellar temp porter: English Porter by Delta Beer Lab

Delta Beer Lab is one of Madison's newest breweries, if not its newest, having opened in February 2019. (Union Corners Brewery is about the same age, now that I think about it.) Located in a rather suburban area on Madison's south side, it's something of an underdog in the Madison beer scene. The area is not particularly walkable nor is there much in the way of stores nearby to bring in thirsty shoppers. If you're not making a dedicated trip to their establishment, it's unlikely you'll wander past it by chance. Plus, there is just so much beer out there and Delta doesn't seem to have found its break out beer, the beer that it's known for. It doesn't have its Spotted Cow, Hopalicious, or Fantasy Factory.

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 18^th 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.

I took notes while tasting two pints of this stuff and each had some nice milk chocolate or carob scents. One sample had a metallic smell to it while the other added a bit of plum fruitiness and some grass to the chocolate. Definitely different from American porters here.

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.