Craft beer drinkers know that beer tastes tend to follow the seasons. We enter the heart of winter in January and for most beer drinkers this is the time for dark beers. And when we are talking dark beers, we are talking Porters and Stouts. Porter is the older of the two and in fact Stouts emerged from Porters (see history section in this issue). Both styles were completely ignored by the lager-focused American beer industry. Then a revolution occurred - a Beer Revolution in America. The founding father of that revolution, Fritz Maytag, opened Anchor Brewing in San Francisco and in the early 1970s for the first time in America, brewed Porters and Stouts. For the adventurous beer drinkers these beers were something completely new.
Fritz had put his stamp on the America Craft Beer Revolution and most of the early craft brewers following his lead created Porters and or Stouts (i.e. New Albion (Jack McAuliffe), Sierra Nevada (Ken Grossman), Yakima (Bert Grant), and Bells (Larry Bell) breweries). These style became a favorite of American craft brewers and beer drinkers, and still is. Check out your favorite craft beer establishments for a great Porter or Stout.
SEASONAL DRINKING GUIDE
JANUARY - Imperial Stouts and Baltic Porters
FEBRUARY - Sweet Milk Stouts and Vanilla Porters
MARCH - Irish Stouts and Irish Red Ales
Cheers,
Dan Taylor, the Beer Man