This is #2 of my tastes through the 4-beer "box set" I purchased a little over a week ago from the BOSTON BEER CO. (SAMUEL ADAMS to you)- I'm talking of course of the heralded "Brewer/Patriot Collection" that we first discussed in this forum last Tuesday. This time I turned my drinking attention to their GEORGE WASHINGTON PORTER, and unlike my experience with the JAMES MADISON DARK WHEAT, which was pretty goddamn good, this one's pretty much not. I found this installment pretty boring, with some "notes" of molasses and (so they say) licorice, but overall a fairly watery broth rather than the sort of meaty gut-punch one usually looks for in a porter. You know when you're drinking a really great porter - Deschutes' Black Butte Porter, say -- and you find that you're still sipping & savoring it long after everyone else has moved on to their next beer? This one was over & done with before I'd even finished half the sausage dinner it was paired with - I was drinking it like (and in place of) water, and that's probably not a good sign. Sure, I figured that this 4-pack, which is designed to harken back to 18th Century brewing styles, was going to have a couple of mediocre ones in it, and that's cool. The whole concept around this is intriguing enough, and as long as the majority of the beers within it are passable (& despite my articulated complaints, this one is), I'm wholly in favor. But if they ever branched this one off into its own brand, I'd recommend proceeding with extreme prejudice. Let's call it a 5/10 and leave it at that.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
I CANNOT TELL A LIE
This is #2 of my tastes through the 4-beer "box set" I purchased a little over a week ago from the BOSTON BEER CO. (SAMUEL ADAMS to you)- I'm talking of course of the heralded "Brewer/Patriot Collection" that we first discussed in this forum last Tuesday. This time I turned my drinking attention to their GEORGE WASHINGTON PORTER, and unlike my experience with the JAMES MADISON DARK WHEAT, which was pretty goddamn good, this one's pretty much not. I found this installment pretty boring, with some "notes" of molasses and (so they say) licorice, but overall a fairly watery broth rather than the sort of meaty gut-punch one usually looks for in a porter. You know when you're drinking a really great porter - Deschutes' Black Butte Porter, say -- and you find that you're still sipping & savoring it long after everyone else has moved on to their next beer? This one was over & done with before I'd even finished half the sausage dinner it was paired with - I was drinking it like (and in place of) water, and that's probably not a good sign. Sure, I figured that this 4-pack, which is designed to harken back to 18th Century brewing styles, was going to have a couple of mediocre ones in it, and that's cool. The whole concept around this is intriguing enough, and as long as the majority of the beers within it are passable (& despite my articulated complaints, this one is), I'm wholly in favor. But if they ever branched this one off into its own brand, I'd recommend proceeding with extreme prejudice. Let's call it a 5/10 and leave it at that.
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2 comments:
Unfortunately I have heard from others that the Porter and Dark wheat were the best of the bunch and the other two were major misses. I haven't had the chance to taste them yet though. However like you I appreciate what Boston Beer company is trying to do and its pretty cool.
The root beer beer was god awful. I didn't finish the small glass a friend poured for me. I thought the porter was ok and the dark wheat was a little better.
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