Samuel Adams Honey Porter
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

 

355 ml, from Systembolaget, Sweden, thanks to OleR. ABV is 5.45%. Very dark brown colour, big and lasting beige head. Fairly moderate but pleasant aroma of heather honey, also notes of roasted malts, caramel, chocolate, fruity hops and mild coffee. The flavour is not as sweet as I feared, but the heather honey has a distinct presence throughout, nicely balanced by the hops. There is also a moderate roastiness, again with moderate notes of caramel, chocolate and mild coffee. Unlike the brewers I would not call this a "robust" porter, but it is certainly a good one all the same.

 

So I am a lager, porter, stout man, and I love honey. The complexity of making the perfect brew and roasting hops to perfection is difficult to say the least, But when My Brother brought me this for the 4th of July, and I am talking 48 bottles of bliss. I was in heaven for the weekend.

Just take a look at this baby, Soft supple label, Normal Sam Adams with a pint. Cracking this bad boy, If you have read previous reviews, I Enjoy cracked a bottled beer close to the nose to breathe in the beer fog from the Seal. I admit I got goosebumps from this baby. Roasted Barly, Chocolate tones, But a huge honey Smell, that I could immediately taste, The only thing was, You can barely taste the honey in the brew unless you let it sit and get warm, The perfect temp to enjoy this Bottle is around 45 - 50 degrees, Yeah yeah most beers are better around 33 - 36 degrees but trust me on this, It goes down smooth and coats your mouth just right, that honey undertone will pop out and you will get a sweet aftertaste. I find when I am trying something new, is to enjoy it in many different stages, I try the bottle first, Cold as I can get before it gets frozen. Deciding from there how to best enjoy it, can at times be a chore, but a fantastic one.

Like should I leave it in the bottle, Should I pour some into the glass and witness the colors, should I give it a little head or a lot. pour slow or fast, Should I allow it to breathe? Get warm? Add something to it, what food shall I pair it with. What would make it sweeter or more bitter? On this particularly warm day 102 degrees in the shade. sitting next to a lake, with my Fishing rod in the water. I had no Glass, no stine or pint with handle. I engulfed the body of the beer at first break of the seal, I took a quick sip to establish flavor. Nice and mellow, I had to pee. I left the beer to breathe. The bitter first taste on a honey beer had me worried. As I ran back to my pole in the water, with a fish on it, Losing my pants around my Knees and realing in a 12 pounder ~ Bass. I wiped my brow, Unhooked the fish, and tossed me back. picked up my Sam Adams and downed half the bottle, To my amazement, I found the honey undertone, the chocolate overtones, the Malty and roasted, in your face tones, "Holy Crap" I said to my brother, "This is awesome" I pulled another from my cooler, and placed it on the top, to allow the sun to gently kiss it and warm it up just so. I finished my first. Placing the bottle into my knapsack and cracked the next one, Perfect from the draw. Finding this little legend only needed to warm up a bit before it became a giant among the Honey line of beers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown colored, thinner color than average porter, but a solid 1" of tan head make it nice overall. Aroma was roast, nothing sweet going on.

Taste hit the sweet notes the aroma did not. Leaned away from hops. Chocolate malt in there. Gets smoother as it warmed.

Another relatively average beer from SA, most importantly perhaps, no off flavors. Decently done.

Good porter