Great Divide Claymore Scotch Ale (3/6)
Poor Claymore. This isn’t a bad beer per se, its just that there are so many better Scotch Ale’s out there. The flavor was vaguely malty, but other than that just kind of not present. Perhaps I’ve had one too many brain bashing Wee Heavys to truly appreciate this. But I still love them for trying. After all “If it’s not Scottish, its cr*p!”

Silver Moon Snake Bite Porter (3/6)
This is the first beer I’ve had from Silver Moon, and I hope to try more. Hopefully their other showings will be more impressive. I love porters. And this was a decent porter. Not awesome, not bad. But, it sort of falls into the camp of “identity crisis” porters that taste too much like stouts. Its got a strong hickory flavor as well if you are into that sort of thing.

Hopworks Gigabit IPA (4/6)
The great thing about this beer, is that even though I don’t even like IPAs, this stuff was great. Citrus-y, light, with a mellow hop aftertaste that appeals to those of us who avoid cheek smash. For those of you not in the know, this beer was brewed as part of a contest Google is putting on to give one city in America free fiber optic internet. So Google…we better win, or I’m switching back to Yahoo.

You’d think I’d learn after trying an import from Poland (“cool!”) that turned out to be their Malt Liquor (“dag nabbit!”) that trying odd Eastern European imports with labels in foreign languages is a wild gamble.  But if you’ve been reading my posts so far, you now know that I never learn.  Those brain cells died in a puddle of Schlitz long ago.  This time, it’s from Mother Russia — Baltika Number 6, which is something called a “Baltic Porter”.  In keeping with my policy of never learning, I have also not done my homework to figure out exactly what that is, but I drink on, nonetheless.

Baltika Numero Six is not bad, just off a bit.  Not skunky, despite the intercontinental trip to Socal.  None of the flavors are bad, though there are a LOT of them.  Not too astringent, though I was expecting the first sip to dissolve my front teeth, as so often happens with extra-strong imports.  But it’s just… different — an odd mismash of flavors that don’t quite all work together.  Something’s just not quite right — maybe something’s lost in the translation, maybe this is what Baltic Porters are supposed to be, but I’m not buyin’ it.  Why not?  Check out their website – you can look up the Baltika’s official homepage for all their beers (they run from 1 through 9).  For Number 6, you’ll see a strange juxtaposition of hip, modern Russian youngster spinnin’ trax on the DJ set on the left, next to this description of Baltika No. 6 on the right:

“Baltika’s porter is one of the most eminent varieties of Russian beer with a long heritage.  Energy value: 60 kilocalories per 100 g of beer.  Nutritional value: not more than 6.0 g of carbohydrates per 100 g of beer.”

Wow — that has to be the most arid, scientific beer slogan I’ve ever seen.  Keep in mind, this is on their official website, where you’re supposed to sing the praises of your product, not post half of an AP Chemistry word problem.  And it about sums it up for Baltika No. 6 — like the emergence of Russian glam rock bands after glastnost, Baltika No. 6 is just a little too alien for my taste.

Now don’t get the wrong impression here. I’m not saying its bad, because it certainly isn’t. I had two bottles of the stuff myself. This may even be the beer that you can get your “I only drink real alcohol” snob buddies to drink. I just wanted to make sure and give you all a heads up about what to expect, and to give you an idea of how much your breath will smell like a boozy hobo when you’re done. Salud!

Lets just say… I’ve fallen in love with porters and Bridgeport’s is no exception.  The smoky smooth taste made for a flavorful, yet easy to drink beer.  I honestly can’t think of anything that wouldn’t taste good with a porter.  I’d even drink a porter with chocolate cake!  (Ohh… that sounds so good….) Ok… maybe I should change my name to “PorterSlut.”

This porter was exactly what I was looking for.  It was very robust and filled with a smoky/woody/chocolate flavor that went well with my crispy white fish sandwich.  I could have easily finished another glass and joined the staff during their second dance show.  Usually beers like this are best during the fall and winter months, but I was getting tired of lighter ‘summer’ beers.  The porter hit the spot and didn’t seem too heavy.  Frosty would have tried some, but didn’t think it would have gone with all that cherry syrup in his sangria. 

Ok, so back to beer. My hiatus was officially over as of tonight as Namelganger and I sat down at the new local watering hole for a few brews and basketball. Lucky for me, Southern Oregon Brewing’s Porter had made its way an extra 1/2 mile closer to my house than the previous “only other place I can get this”. Having had now 5 pints, I can officially say that this is the best porter I’ve ever had. Its just so damn smooth. Slight roasty porter taste, but the smoothest damn swig you’ll ever have of something that calls itself porter. I realize its spring, and the lighter beers are coming back into fashion again. But, I say screw it. If chilly nights give me a reason to drink such a damn good dark beer I say Jack Frost, keep it coming.

Now, S.O. Brewing, its time you look into this crazy new technology they have called bottles…