Atwater Brewery: Vanilla Java Porter

ABV: 5.0%

IBU: 13

Availability: Year-round

@untappd says: 3.83/5

We’ve had a few stouts on the window sill, but not yet their great granddaddy, the porter. It’s time to remedy that.

The porter is among the oldest styles of beer in the world, having been invented somewhere in the 1700s. It became very popular with the transportation workers of Central London during the industrial revolution, which is where it got its catchy name. The original recipe called for three different styles: an aged or sour old ale, a brown or pale new ale and a milder ale. As I alluded to earlier, the porter is the direct ancestor to the stout, which was typically made by making porters that were stronger and more robust than the typical recipe called for. In fact, the original heavier porters were often called “Stout Porters.”

For me, the Vanilla Java Porter from Atwater Brewery was a bit of a miss. The vanilla and coffee aromas really came through when I poured it into the glass, but the flavor didn’t really back that up enough for me. I’m used to the more intense flavor of a stout, so this was a bit watered down for me.

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