My beer fridge is often stocked with booty captured from a distant brewery in Vermont, Maine, or even other locations in Massachusetts. This winter, though, as no faraway brewery road trips have been planned, I’ve been rekindling past relationships with old flames. Beers from breweries such as Ommegang, Harpoon, and Samuel Smith have graced the shelves of my beer fridge.
Just as in a beer blog post from years ago, I’ve decided to say hello to an old friend, in this case, Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter. With company set to arrive before Plymouth’s Christmas tree lighting, I headed out to my local package store and picked up a four-pack of the Samuel Smith as well as a six-pack of Harpoon’s Winter Warmer to ring in the season. When the weather is colder, it’s stout, porter, and winter beer season.
For fifteen years I have been drinking craft beer. When I was a craft-beer youngster sampling wares from a new brewery, I’d proceed with caution with porters and stouts. At times they would be too much for me. As the beer landscape has changed, it was interesting to go back to the Taddy Porter.
The Taddy Porter
Upon the first sip, I noticed a hint of bitterness offset by a real sweetness. And whoa, it’s easy-drinking this beer! Big boy stouts from likes of Tree House and Trillium are honestly too heavy for me. The Samuel Smith’s, although not as complex in character as those, was a perfectly drinkable beer. Whereas some porters and stouts are so thick that I liken them to eating a meal, the Taddy Porter goes down easily, but still has plenty of flavors.
For beginners wanting to venture to the darker side of beer, I recommend the Taddy Porter, along with Mayflower’s Porter, for their combination of taste and drinkability. The dark color may be off-putting to some, but it’s a far cry from the high-octane porters and stouts out there.
In Conclusion…
My experience picking up the Taddy Porter did not disappoint. Since having the Taddy Porter, I also have tried the Winter Welcome and the Oatmeal Stout. These prove my point that some tastes are simply timeless.
Other past beer blog posts include Long Trail’s Hibernator, The Alchemist’s Heady Topper and a whole portfolio from Exhibit “A”. Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter was purchased at Craft Beer Cellar in Plymouth, MA.
