Anchor Porter
Anchor Brewing Company

 

 

 

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a Willi Becher glass. Appearance leaves nothing to be desired. Cola-colored body with ruby highlights, a thick long-lasting light tan head, good retention and lacing. For my money, this reaches its peak at near room temperature. Roasty and a little bitter, with notes of caramel, chocolate, toffee, and dark fruit coming to the fore. Medium-light in body, with a bit of astringence and a sour note lingering on the finish. Overall, an outstanding beer. Hopefully Anchor will find some way to carry on.

Bottled on 03-28-2023. Enjoyed on 7/30/2023 This my second bottle. I had the first on on 7/28/2023. For some reason this bottle is better and has more robust flavor.
Impressive head with a aggressive pour, leaves plenty of lacing.
Flavor is roast, chocolate, caramel, and a hint of dark fruit. Plus a micro hint of coffee. Rather smooth and slightly bitter overall.
A solid beer, kinda old school.

 

 

Bottled on: 06-09-22

A - Pitch black pour with a frothy layer of creamy foam resting on top.

S - Nice roasty chocolate and coffee malt aroma with a touch of char.

T - Chocolate roast, a slight bit of coffee, some toffee, and a hint of dark fruit. Finishes with a pleasing lingering chocolate coffee char. There's also a very slight bit of astringency.

M - Medium body with soft prickly carbonation.

O - Solid and glad to finally find this one, first time ever noticing it on the shelf.

Roasty, smooth, flavors of cocoa, fruit (raisin and prune come to mind), slightly spicy. Sits well with me, and sips well with me. An old favorite, a classic, great porter beer.

Appearance: Pours a dark, nearly black color with a mild tan head. SRM of 23. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of English and dark chocolate, some coffee and hints of dark malt and molasses underneath. (4.00)

Favor: Strong flavors of bittersweet chocolate, dried cocoa powder, with some coffee and dark malt. Balanced by dry finish. (4.25)

Feel: Medium-bodied, roasted grainy mouthfeel. Balanced. (4.00)

Compared to Einstok Icelandic Porter 1/7/2023: Pours similar, milder aromas. More chocolate and roast. Less bittersweetn chocolate and English cream. Roastier, dryer, and more American.

Compared to Surly Skeleton Tree 1/7/2023: Pours darker, stronger aromas. More chocolate. Less airy roast, dark grain, and yeast. Slightly maltier and more balanced.

Compared to Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald 3/2023: More English chocolate, espresso bean dark fruit. less bittersweet chocolate, dark roast, bitterness.

Compared to Bent Paddle Black 3/2023: More English chocolate, espresso bean, dark fruit. Less milk chocolate, coffee roast. Milder.

Overall: A nice Porter here with bittersweet English chocolate, cocoa, and roasted flavors. Drinks balanced, but leans dry as a porter should. A lower ABV and clean, yet flavorful. Nicely done and balanced all around. (Rating: 4.14)

Poured from 12oz bottle to a nonic pint glass. Pours a deep, rich brown with a decent dark khaki head that settled to a cap. Beer is opaque. Smell is roasted malt, caramel, and chocolate. Also there's a bit of hop aroma too. Taste had cocoa, coffee, roasted barley, generic fruitiness in the finish. Feel is medium bodied, well-carbonated. Overall, this is a really nice porter with a strong hop presence, yet it still remains rather well- balanced.

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass.
The body is inky black with a half inch of brown head with a mild pour. Retention is average.
The intensity of aroma is medium. There are notes of malt, salted toffee, rich dark chocolate and black coffee. It smells wonderful.
The intensity of taste is medium high with a dryer and more hoppy flavor than the aroma suggests. Normally, I loath hoppy porters, but Anchor got this one right. With a swallow, the flavor keeps going. There are flavors of toffee, deep dark chocolate, more black coffee than in the aroma and a long pronounced hoppy flavor that's medium in intensity. It's rich and delicious. I've missed having a go to dark beer after New Castle changed. This will likely be it's much better replacement. I usually support local Austin breweries, but this is a much better beer than 512 Pecan Porter which is much more expensive for a four-pack compared to a six-pack of this.
The thickness is just under medium. It's quite dry with a low level of astringency. Well, I finished the bottle before I could accurately detect the level of creaminess. With it's 5.6% ABV, I'm feeling a little numbness in my face. I will open another bottle tomorrow to finish this.
The level of creaminess is high. The carbonation is unique. The bubbles are tiny and tickle the tongue creating a effervescent quality. It has a lot of world class qualities in the mouth feel alone.
Overall, I'm amazed by how excellent this is. After trying a few beers that I didn't care for, Anchor Porter reminded me how truly great a beer can be.

Tasty

Pours into hotel plastic cup like a stout, frothy tan head
Big tastes of coffee, chocolate and toffee/caramel for being light in abv. Finishes slightly dry. Delicious Union Made Beer to celebrate Labor Day

Pours a very dark brownish color with a dark tan head. Smell is of chocolate and coffee, caramel, and malt. Taste is a nice chocolate-coffee and caramel. Good tasting Porter.

The Porter is a dark beer and I got a two finger mocha head in a nonic. The roasty chocolate smell is inviting. The taste is roasty and finishes bitter. The solid mouthfeel bites back with the lingering bitterness. Overall an enjoyable porter.

 

From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This classic pours a dark blackish brown with
a very nice head of khaki foam that settles to a thick ring, thin clumping layer,
and shows off some nice lacing. Nose of dark coffee, dark cocoa, moderate char,
and roast with subtle dark fruit hints. Flavors hit the mark with dark fruit notes
of black and raspberry, dark cocoa, dark coffee, char, and balanced sweet
caramel malts. Nice mouth feel; medium full body edging towards medium,
smooth, lightly coating, light carbonation, and a balanced char and roast finish
that is lightly dry.

Overall---EXCELLENCE!

Cheers

Opened this fresh 12 ouncer and drank it straight from the bottle.
This is a superb everyday Porter, richly delicious, tastes of coffee, mild chocolate, dark malt. Drinks light. Finishes crisp. Excellent American display of the style.

Delightful dark roast coffee flavors with a hint of chocolate. Crisp, light, and ultimately refreshing.
About as good a porter as any I've tried.