This old train is puffin' smoke

On the heels of the unresolved ambiguity of "Winter Ales" we go after porters. A "working man's stout" as some have called this brew, the panel was ready for the smooth flavors in a rich, dark beer (although not all our entries were aware of this definition).


Before the results are presented, let your fears of tasting order be allayed. It turns out the panel is equally fair (or harsh), regardless of the order in which a beer is tasted. As shown below, the relationship between order & score is non-significant. With a measly R² of 0.035, you can all sleep a little easier.


There was considerable excitement about the porters. While the Sierra Nevada - Flying Dog rivalry was being watched, few believed either would best the elixr of Anchor's Porter. Others competing (from East to West): London Porter, Coal Porter (Atlantic Brewing), Robust Porter (Smuttynose), Mocha Porter (Rogue), and Pipeline Porter (Kona Brewing).


Turns out, there are really only two kinds of porters, as far as the panel is concerned: porters we like, and porters that aren't porters. Thankfully, we only had one of the latter. The frontrunners were unexpected: Coal Porter took first, followed by London Porter. The favored Anchor came in at third. It was the perennial competitor Flying Dog (which, interestingly, has moved to Frederick, MD) that was effectively disqualified for being out of category (the panel had additional reasons to believe Flying Dog is confused about the darker ales, but more about that later).


Overheard:

• "Put this in your mouth and swallow." -Brandon's comment to Becca after tasting the Coal Porter. At least, I hope that's what he was talking about...
  
• "I can see Jeff's ugly mug through this beer. One should never have to see that." -Rainbow, with his first exposure to Road Dog.
  

Two other brews showed up, but were excluded from the tasting for being out of category:

• Smuttynose's Baltic Porter. A very rich, very good Baltic porter, part of Smuttynose's Big Beer series. A bomber to sip & share.
  
• Flying Dog's Gonzo Imperial Porter. Another great beer, despite the dissociative identity disorder evident by the description on the bottle: it's apparently an American-Style Imperial Stout. Who knows? Maybe they also say potahto in Colorado Maryland.

Regardless of the Gonzo's identity, it provides an excellent lead in to our next category. Stouts are on tap.