Saturday afternoon I had to go out to the grocery store–nothing puts a crimp in the rest of the day like a lack of breakfast cereal. (For those keeping score at home, I generally prefer Peanut Butter Cap’N Crunch or Cookie Crisp.) So, I drove to Eldersburg and went to the store.
While I was out, I decided I’d stop at a liquor store. Why? The off-chance I might find Beamish, that’s why. Not that I was itching for Beamish, because I wasn’t, but it would be interesting to see. And Eldersburg struck me as being someplace where I might find Beamish. Certainly not the corner liquor store by the house where I’d have no chance.
Alas, no Beamish Irish Stout. Guinness Draught, yes. Murphy’s Irish Stout, which I absolutely abhor, yes. But no Beamish.
However, they did have something I wasn’t expecting, something I hadn’t seen in many a year.
The Sam Adams Honey Porter.
Stouts and porters are my thing. Ales, slightly less so. Lagers, not really.
See, I have a rule. I’ve described it before, but it bears repeating. 😉
Pour the beer into the glass. Place a hand behind the glass. If the hand can be seen through the beer, the beer is not dark enough.
That’s Allyn’s beer rule. And it’s a rule that has served me well for many a year.
In college I drank Sam Adams. Generally the Cream Stout, which they describe as the “cappucino of beers.” But I also drank the Honey Porter. The label on the bottle described it as a beer style that Paul Revere and Thomas Jefferson would have had. A little sweeter, a little smoother, not as bitter, but still dark.
Damn, that was awesome stuff. It wasn’t difficult to find in Richmond–there was a specialty beer shop right off campus. Or the Hannaford’s on Broad Street–they had a wide beer selection.
After college, though? Never saw it again.
Turns out that the Boston Brewing Company stopped brewing the Sam Adams Honey Porter. Just recently–in the past year or so–they put it back into production. I hadn’t gone looking for it. Truthfully, I’d decided that I wasn’t going to find it here in Maryland. But when I saw it on Saturday, damn the expense, I had to buy it.
Who’d have thought that Guinness would be cheaper? Not I, not I.
Oh, it’s every bit as good as I remember. Smooth, slightly sweet, not at all bitter. It has flavor and style. The Honey Porter.
Life is good. :cheers: