Smuttynose Chai Porter

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

cask at BT. Pours a nice deep woody brown with some cool woody ruby highlights- nice head too. Aroma is very chai- tea like- more powerful than the previous batch at EBF a couple years ago- roast and chocolate porter-like is only subtle- the chai comes through big time- herbal minty and anise/licorice. Flavor is very herbal earthy, tea-like with almost a milky lactose sweetness thrown in to make it even more like chai- anise, leather, fennel, caraway, licorice but finishes a bit thin- and as it warms the chai character actually becomes a bit too strong for me this time. Good for about half a glass then I got sick of it.

On cask at Redbones stout and porter dinner on 3/12/07
Dark ruddy-brown, with some deep tan highlights and a dark beige head that is moderately well-retained, providing light lacing. Clarity is medium.
Wonderfully fragrant, spicy nose is filled with cinnamon and ginger. Light breadiness behind it gives it a gingerbread-like nose. Dry hazelnuts, cream and very dry chocolate notes on the finish signify some porter qualities, but it’s not overly roasty. More like a lightly toasted/singed nuttiness and smoked cinnamon, not that that makes much sense. Definitely unique and interesting and much better than I expected. The nose mellows and the spiciness becomes more cohesive with the sweet maltiness behind it, as it warms/breathes. But every subsequent whiff always starts with that spicy cinnamon-gingerbread intrigue. Very strong aroma, no alcohol or flaws.
The flavor is just as full of chai, giving a milky, creamy and very spicy flavor. But the sweetness is rather high and helps soak up some of the spice. Vanilla, chocolate and ginger all mesh well together. Almost a chalkiness as well, from the chai, with an extremely soothing mouthfeel and low carbonation. Dry spiciness lingers on the finish, with a bit of breadiness and roast. No alcohol noted.
This batch had twice the amount of chai as the EBF batch (accidentally). I bet the EBF batch was REALLY good, as this one was just a bit too heavy on the chai, I think, despite still being good.

EBF 2007: Pours a dark murky brown with a tan head. Aroma, spicy, and roasty, some chocolate. Flavor, nice spices again, roasty, some chocolate, and coffee. While I was getting the beer Sam from DFH came by and told the Smutty guys they needed to start bottling this stuff. I couldn’t agree more.

EBF 2007 - quite an interesting brew - regardless of the fact that all the chicks were flocking to this beer, I had to try it anyway - lots of cocoa and cardamom come wafting up from the glass - the flavor is much like their robust porter, only much more dry, with light herbal notes and lots of cocoa coming through - the chai/cardamom mixes with the roasty dry character to remind me a bit of turkish coffee - and I loves me some turkish coffee - very original stuff.