I wanted to make sure the drink that I came back with was a good one, so I decided to choose my current "favorite" beer. At the moment it just happens to be the Smuttynose Robust porter. Unfortunately, a good portion of my readers will not be able to try this brew. That is because it is a microbrew from Portsmouth New Hampshire. I know exactly what your thinking, "Where the fuck is Portsmouth New Hampshire?" If you will take a moment to look at the map I have provided you will know exactly where the fuck it is. Fortunately, you don't actually have to go to Portsmouth to get this beer. It has become so popular that it is sold throughout the northeast U.S.
Enough about New Hampshire, it's time to get talking about this beautiful beer. I will start off by saying that is a heavy beer and won't be liked by those that like their beers to taste like water. Actually, a good word to describe this beer would be, ROBUST! Good job Smuttynose. Seriously, this isn't just a darker beer with a touch of flavor, like Guinness. This is a full flavored porter. Most of the people that don't drink dark beer might want to group the two together, but this would be a huge mistake. Guinness is a dry Irish stout. It's dark, has a nice bit of flavor, is wonderfully creamy, and is very light as far as dark beers go. The Robust porter is damn near black, not all that creamy, moderately heavy as far as dark beers go, and packed full of different flavors. That last part is what's going to set Smuttynose's porter at the top.
Like other porters it has your usual roasted or burnt flavor. It also has a great combination of the usual chocolate and coffee flavors mixed in with a punch of hoppiness. That's not all though. I have had a lot of great porters, but something in the Smuttynose recipe makes their beer stand out, and I didn't know what that was until i tried their IPA(India Pale Ale). I believe their secret ingredient is their selection of hops. Most IPA style beers taste similar(at least to me), but when I tried Smuttynose's IPA, I was blown away again. It probably isn't the greatest IPA in the world, but it has the perfect combination of flavors that I crave.(With an IPA that flavor is pretty much just the type of hops that the brewery uses. This is why I think it's their secret weapon.) It is the same craving I get for their porter, but doesn't have all of the other flavors to complement it. That is the only reason why the porter came out on top. Well that and the fact that I prefer dark beers. Either way, Smuttynose is kicking out some of the best beer on the market and that is even after comparing them to breweries like Samuel Smith and Great Lakes. They are also doing it at a very reasonable price. If you are looking to get a feel for dark beer I think Smuttynose's Robust porter is the beer to pick up. If you're not a fan of dark beer, but would still like a beer with a little more flavor, I would suggest trying one of their other beers. I know I'm going to try every one of them.
This post is already too long, so I'm going to wrap it up. This is possibly one of the best drinks on the planet and I dare you to compare it to your favorite dark beer. The first time I tried this beer I was also drinking the Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald porter. At the time I was in love with that beer and rightfully so, but after my first Smuttynose I couldn't stand going back to that weakness. It would have been like choosing robin to protect you instead of batman. Just a stupid choice.
