Anchor Porter

Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company
Style: Porter
San Francisco, California USA

Dark brown pour, tan head, spotty lace. Thick bodied. Chocolate and coffee, combined with a roasty finish

I was surprised at how dark and thick this beer poured. With its thick flow to its brown head, this resembled a coffee stout more than a porter in appearance. The smell is a lovely, deep chocolate licorice and the taste and mouthfeel is creamy and chocolatey. This beer is so full bodied and full flavored that you’d guess it was a stout. This could be dessert.

Chocolate smell, ruby dark brown/black in colour. Beautifully smooth mouthfeel, creamy texture. Very pleasant toffee, coffe, licorice, anise flavours. A treat.

Taste 8/8 Bottle(7DT). Looks: Opaque black, tan head. Aroma: Roast/toast. Dark fruit licorice. Biscuit/yeast. Taste: Nice roast and fruit mix. Medium sticky body. A nice smoke. Good and evenly complex.

Draught at the Brewery, August 2008. Beautiful, almost black with a fairly generous, foaming head: holds chocolate, coffee bean aromas. One of my wife’s favourite beers. Mouthfeel is reasonably full, thick. Flavour of rich dark chocolate, roasted coffee, licorice.

bottle 335ml from Alko EXP Dec 08 murky black tiny beige head scent:roasted malts dry hops Taste: hops kicked first tickling then rich roasted malts pleasant coffee chocolate as well. I have tasted this many years ago last time. One of my favorites

Large head. Taste of alcohol and burnt coffee. Pretty good. I like Olg Fog horn better though.

I had my first two Anchor Brewing beers while in Texas on a sort for Borders, and they were the classic Steam Beer and Liberty Ale. But up until yesterday, I had yet to partake of their Porter. Thankfully that travesty of my life is now over and I can consider myself an enlightened Anchor Porter fool.
My Anchor Porter poured a thick blackish brown with very little room left for light. Holding it up to a lamp, only faint hints of amber can be seen along the bottom of the glass. a minimum two finger head of soft cappuccino tinged foam tops off my glass, lingering for at least a couple minutes, leaving masses trails of brussels lace as her soft depths slowly retreated into my brew. Her nose is brimming with creamy milk chocolate notes, hints of licorice, dark malts, and vanilla. A quaff later and my tastebuds are reveling in a pleasantly light body with mild weight. It’s certainly not as light as a lager, but not nearly as heavy as some porters I have enjoyed. She is smooth, balanced, and more than happy to show off her lush body resplendent in chocolate and café latte notes, vanilla nips, and a lingering bit of bitterness in the finish do to either the richly roasted malts, hops, or both. The tinge of lemon zest I was trying to pin down in the nose is the hop backbone that keeps Anchor Porter from being overly sweet and giving her a nice crisp dry finish. Each quaff leaves a trail of brussels lace all the way to the last which was a bitter-sweet moment.
At certain times I was almost reminded of a milk stout do to Anchor Porter’s lush creamy milk chocolate latte palate. But overall, she shined as a porter through and through.