Anchor Brewery Porter ABV % • Vol 355 ml • bottle • USA • Mid-price • Flavour 10 Other beers from Anchor Brewery Other beers from USA

This brilliant porter from Anchor pours with a dark tan head. The appearance is almost opaque with a slight reddish hue when held to the sunlight. Nose displays sweet chocolate/coffee malt perfectly balanced with assertive hops. The taste also shows the same beautiful malt and hop flavors. I'm sure there is also fruitiness in there which I can't identify. Bottom line, this is an awesome porter, one of my favorite in the world. A must for any porter drinker. Highest rating. Review submitted by: Darren Dieterich ADD A COMMENT TO THIS BEER

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Review updated 08 May 2000

Comments

This inky black porter is truly remarkable. Its beige head is resiliant, and quite tasty. Don't try tasting the head on a Bud, trust me! The nose is a complex blend of coffee, mocha, and... is that shellfish?? Maybe a strech there. On the palate the coffee flavor is quite evident, and highly enjoyable. The bitterness is subtle, gently pricking the tounge, and rounding out the flavor nicely. The finish is what makes this beer! The flavor lingers, almost indefinately, in the mouth, and is sensually pleasing. Quality brewing by the pioneers of the West Coast hop-head tradition. [Score: 9]
Dustin Alcorn

From one of the key players on the US craft brewing scene comes this well-regarded interpretation of porter, 'virtually hand-brewed', claims the label, 'since 1974'. According to Michael Jackson it is better described as a medium stout rather than a porter, and if by this he means it's too rich and intense, he has a point. The beer pours near-black and oily-looking, with a cappuccino head that soon declines. The aroma is remarkably intense: all roasty malt, liquorice and marmite with a fruit-sherbert like perfume and a hint of raspberries. It drinks with a creamy texture, tasting of liquorice-scented dark malt that almost immediatly dries into black coffee and bitter chocolate flavours, with a faint splash of sweet-sour berry fruit. The finish is very long and constantly developing: bitter hops and coffee, burnt raisin-like fruit, cigar ash and finally an elusive, herbal, flowery hint. In some respects it's probably all too much, approaching the intensity of a good Imperial stout without the gravity, and with a structure that could do with being better integrated, perhaps needing a hop character that is more stimulatingly herby rather than just overwhelmingly drying. While it certainly makes for a memorable glassful, it's hardly the easy-quaffing proletarian refresher that the original porters must have been.
Des de Moor

The color is a deep deep ruby when held to the light, otherwise it might appear like a stout. The head is a nice light brown. The first thing I smell when I pour this beer is a sweet yeasty bready thing, like doughnuts stripped of their icing. Then I smell candy bars, Heath bar popped into my head. I don't know if they still make that candy but it was a mix of chocolate, caramel and various other flavors. The initial flavor is herbal and spicy. I get hints of root beer (sassafras?) or ground thyme, with something like root veggies (rutabaga, turnip, parsnip). Later a sweet combination of chocolate notes shows up; including milk, semi-sweet, and bitter chocolate. There's something like a malted chocolate milkshake there, or chocolate milk. The body is very rich and creamy. There is just a hint of hop bitterness, and even less hop flavor (I can't place the type of hops). A nice lingering aftertaste also contains chocolate and herbs (fresh leaf basil and oregano). I just re-read this review and it seems to suggest that this is a very chocolatey brew, it's not, but there are all sorts of different chocolate characters throughout the aroma and flavor. This is a classic porter, but quite unlike any other that I've tasted. In fact it most closely resembles another beer from Anchor, their "Our Special Ale" that is created anew every holiday season. Take away some of the chocolate and boost up the herbs and root characters, now you'll have a typical year's release of that holiday brew. (Score: 9)
Alan Moum

This is a monster. Big flavor, big body. It took me years to realize that not all porters should be this big. Reminiscent of Guinness Gold Label Export, Koff Imperial, or Tooth's Sheaf Stout.
Marty, Edison, Wa. USA

Anchor Porter is my favorite stout. That's right, I believe the pronounced roasted barley character properly classifies this as a stout... although the hop nose might otherwise disqualify it from that category. Having said that, the name on the bottle label does not detract from the perfection of craftmanship displayed by this brew's long-standing, fragrant head, the silkiness across the tongue, the long-lasting taste of chocolate, caramel, coffee, and most of all to my pallete, roasted barley. Scored 9.5/10.
John Lytle

I'm on the same boat as the others above. This is a world class beer with a rating of 9. Rich and complex as it is, with some strong flavours coming through, it is still very smooth and extemely drinkable. I also felt that its fullness and creaminess marked it as a stout rather than a porter - somewhere between a Milk Stout and an Imperial Stout. A perfect place to be.
Silk Tork

This was the first American "micro-brew" style beer that I remember having fifteen or so years ago, and I remember quite liking it. I haven't visited it since then, I don't know why, but I was moved to buy some the other day. It is very strong! At the same time, it doesn't have any trace of the licorice or iodine medicinal flavor that some other strong porters can have. A rich, unchallenging character is apparent, very roasty yet benign all the same. There is a hypnotically pleasant smoothness in every taste. Seeing how dark tan the head was, and as I tried the first one on a bright sunny day, I held it up to the light and could barely see old Sol through the glass. In another hour I had one more and twenty minutes after that I was sound asleep. If there was ever a sedative in a bottle, I've found it! The same result was noticed several days later when I went back to it. A very good beer for the end of the night.
Hopalong

At last year's Leeds beer festival I stopped searching when I found this beauty. Superb. But I've not found anywhere selling it since!! Roll on Leeds (Pudsey) 2003.
Banksy

The importer to the UK is James Clay & Sons. http://www.beersolutions.co.uk/ they'll tell you where you can get it.
Jeff Pickthall

Bottled (355ml). There seems to be some debate about whether this is a porter (a bit rich for that) or a stout (a bit light bodied for that?). What the hell, let's just call it an excellent beer. Black with a hint of ruby. Almost opaque. Malty with sourish hoppy notes on the nose. Pontefract cake (licorice) and bitter chocolate too, which carries through on to the palate. Quite rich, but not heavy bodied. Bitter chocolate (again) and espresso coffee on the finish. No hint of sweetness. Spiffing stuff.
Chris O

Try Dragon Head Stout ..from the Orkney Bewery. It's Anchor Porter... but BETTER???
gooner

This has been my sentimental favorite beer for years, for reasons other than it's great taste. Anchor Porter was the first micro beer that I tried 30 years ago, and it opened up a whole new world of taste to me. I've been on a happy quest that culminated in an excursion to Belgium, and I owe it all to Anchor. I would agree that Anchor Porter is more a stout than what other brewers call a porter. I really enjoy the chocolate and coffee subtleties.
Strebs

(355 ml bottle, bought at Selfridges, London). Pours with a large tan head, colour is very dark, nearly black (= very, very dark ruby when held to the light). Lovely complex aroma where coffee, dark chocolate, prunes, oak and sandalwood shine through. Flavour is initially sweet and mellow, then a distinct bitterness comes through. Coffee notes are dominant. There's something undefined strange in the aftertaste that keeps me from giving it a straight "10". Still, this is a top class porter!
Sigmund

This is to Stout what Coors is to water!
The Doctor

Anchor's porter remains the only one of said brewery's beers that I continue to purchase with any regularity. A very different animal than Bell's or Fuller's take on porters (with their emphasis on coffee flavors), this particular beer is pleasantly sweet with much more of a chocolate taste. Not an every-day beer, but a nice change of pace from time to time.
Kyle Barhamand

No more need be said other than the world's best porter.
Mr Mr Mr My My My

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