Beer #153 - Coal Porter, Atlantic Brewing Company, Bar Harbor Maine

You gotta love it when you can match your glassware to your beer! Our next beer, a porter, comes from the East Coast - Bar Harbor, where a dark drink is necessary on those stormy coastal nights! Let's give it a try!

It pours opaque with a thin tight head.

The aroma is nut malt with mild chocolate tones. There is a very mild sweetness.

The initial taste is nut malt, but the chocolate tones quickly take over. It has a medium body and is fairly rich, though it finishes fairly clean. Vanilla builds while drinking, but the bitterness from hops and the nuttiness of the malt keep it from gaining too much sweetness.

The aftertaste is mildly hoppy, but mostly malt and vanilla - the palate clears quickly.

It's hard to get ahold of, but a nice porter to enjoy if you get it...and you gotta love the name!

Cheers!

S.O.B., Atlantic Brewing Company

Our next beer is, again, an import from the East Coast's Atlantic Brewing Company - The S.O.B or Special Old Bitter. I found it at the brewery, which is a little off the beaten path, but well worth the detour.

The smell is very mild, very subtle with slight malt and a bit sweet.

The beer pours a dark amber and a full head.

The taste is a little hard to pin down. The back of the bottle touts it as a Crisp Ale, and at first I would agree. After a few tastes, though, I felt it was a little more creamy - which I liked. The bitterness doesn't overwhelm you with first taste. It builds, but remains smooth and on the light side. It finishes very clean and doesn't leave a lot of taste hanging around in the mouth.

The bottle mentions that they use Northern Brewer Hops and pale, crystal, black and Munich malts. They mention that it has an "assertive hope body, balanced with enough maltiness to make this a wonderful afternoon beer." While I don't feel that it is necessarily assertive, it does hold good body and I certainly agree that it is well-balanced. I would also agree that it makes for an excellent afternoon beer, especially given the relative lightness and balance it carries.

Happy drinking!

Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout

Our next beer is one of my imports from the East Coast - Bar Harbor's Stout. Right to it.... It pours with a caramel head and is extremely opaque. The smells are subtle - with mild malt and roast. The taste is noticeably chocolate with a roasty malt. The body seems to build as you drink. The aftertaste is slight bitterness and leaves a roastiness in the breath. I think it would be a good addition to dessert - especially with vanilla ice cream (if my inherited cholesterol problem didn't bar me from such a delicious combination!)

Bar Harbor is an interesting place, a good afternoon place to check out - way too touristy for an extended stay - but a beautiful place to see in Maine. And some of my favorite beers are from Maine! I will be interested to try and retry more stouts to compare with the Cadillac Mountain... Cheers!