Porter/Stout Advice

A lot of good porters have been mentioned so far. If a brewery can't brew a solid porter or stout, they are suspect in my book, so it's hard to go wrong. I like Smuttynose, Founders, Ballast Point, and Anchor Porter. Speedway Stout is a great choice if you can find it.

Dark Horse Perkulator is a coffee dopplebock that's probably my favorite coffee beer of all time. They distribute to NC, so they may send beer to Mass. as well. Duck Rabbit Porter is one of my favorite porters. I can really taste the earthy Fuggles hops.

If you're plotting world domination, get thee some brown liquor such as Four Roses bourbon or a sherry-casked Macallan.

 

Exactly where I was going.My favorite coffee beer hands down.

 

Meantime Coffee Porter.

 

Good call on the Mayflower, second best Porter I have ever tried next to Edmund Fitzgerald. There are still bottles of Long Trail Imperial Porter on the shelf (there are at Yankee in Attleboro at least). I loved that beer. It's bigger than your average porter but not overly intense. I absolutely love that beer and I think it doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves.

 

Fact...Founders Porter.......gets better w/ ea. bottle

 

FBS is all over shelves where I live in MA

Stone Espresso is hard to find though

 

Surly Coffee Bender if you can get it.
Victory at Sea
3Bean (should be up there in your area)
Don't know if Pipeworks is there but Coffee Break Abduction is great.
get your hands on last year's bottle of Southern Tier Javah

 

this if you can have find it

 

Doesn't anyone get wired drinking coffee stouts? Certainly FBS has seen me wide awake a damn sight later than I had wished. Is it the craft beer equivalent of a vodka red bull?

 

They may be distributed, but hard to find--at least, not easily found where I've looked.

Months gone--haven't seen any since early July.

Would be ideal, but still a couple of moths away. Last year's stock ran out in May in most places and I have not seen it anywhere since, even where a lot of Pretty Things are stocked. It's effectively a seasonal--and a nice one at that.

Founders Porter, Boulevard Bully! and Victory Baltic Thunder are all easy to find, but none are earth-shattering, which means that they would work as pseudo-sessionable porters. Also Smuttynose and Mayflower, as has been proposed, are probably the easiest to find these days, but pricewise and quality-wise they are no better than the first three (unless you can find Smutty at TJs for cheap). For stout, FBS is still around, but not quite in quantities that people are implying, Stone RIS is easily available (but not Espresso), and I found a new source for Old Rasputin @$9.99 near me (although I know one store that still sells it for $8.99). But if you want them on the heavy side, like Stone or OR, you can't go wrong with any of the dark Clown Shoes--Vampire Slayer and either of the Dragons, Galactica, Luchador en Fuego, Mexican Sombrero and Very Angry Beast. In fact, I'd recommend one of each for a bitchin' session...

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet - Smuttynose Baltic Porter is one of the best out there.

 

Marty's Big Buys (I think it's called) on North Beacon St in Allston had some Babayaga on the shelf last week. If you're looking for out-of-season seasonals, they're a good place to check.

 

This is pretty hard to find (would likely have to trade for it) but is a fantastic coffee porter brewed right in Mass. I've had all three barrell aged framinghammers and all are equally awesome. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26520/93249

 

Any of Great Divide's Yeti Stouts. I'd also highly recommend the Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate Stout and their Imperial Stout.

 

"Hard to find" is an understatement these days... It will be back soon though

I know where I've seen the entire Yeti line-up (well, maybe not entire, but more than I've seen anywhere else) and where I last saw LT Impy bottle. If you're interested in those, PM and I'll tell you where to look.

 

Founders Porter or Imperial Stout are just simple classics; their Breakfast Stout and KBS (if they're around) have coffee.
AleSmith's Speedway Stout is a surefire coffee stout win.
Goose Island's BCB Coffee Stout is exceptional, but likely unavailable.
Stone has an Imperial Russian Stout (their excellent standard) and an Espresso version as well.

Oh, and I see Great Divide is available in your state, too - as mentioned somewhere above, any of their Yeti line is great, and there is a an Espresso Oak Aged version that is fantastic.

Sans coffee, if available, Fuller's London Porter is top-flight, as is Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout

 

Not sure how Galactica got in there, but it was not intended for this list. The other six are still spot on AFAIAC.

 

Slumbrew Porter Square Porter. Amazingly delicious!

 

your from Massachusetts so you want Berkshire Coffee House Porter then a Drayman's Porter, should be able to find them available anywhere