I must admit I was a bit wary of Avery’s porter offering, a seasonal brew called the New World Porter. It’s dry hopped and after the over hopped Sierra Porter I was afraid I was going to be in for another bitter mess. I was very wrong. While the porter did with a bit more foam than I would like from a porter, it had a light fruity bouquet. The first sip was full of chocolaty malt with a subtle hint of cherries, which later through the bottle turned to a rich coffee flavor accentuated by noble hop spicy bitterness. An elegant twist on the classic style.
About a year ago, the New York Times crowned Geary’s London Porter top dog in their porter tasting. It’s not my favorite and I’m not sure that I didn’t drink a subpar bottle. It poured a rich black, with a thin bone white head, and smelled rich and chocolaty. There was a distinct sourness, similar to Guinness but a bit more pronounced. The sourness did keep it refreshing but was a bit distracting, I can’t remember much else about the way it tastes beyond the sourness at this point eight hours later. The body was a bit thinnish but well within the range acceptable for an English style porter. Definitely different and interesting but not one I’d make my porter. I will probably check out another bottle to see what the deal with the sourness is.
EDIT – I did indeed have a bad bottle. Spoke to someone in the know, and found out that the sourness is not characteristic of Geary’s London Porter.
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