Anchor Ale-Men

Anchor Ale-men will be a weekly article that reviews micro brews from microbreweries around the world. I will rate beer on four categories: Head, the amount off foam that is left when you explode the beer of the bottom of the class to release the carbonation; Color, or darkness of the beer; Aroma, or the smell of the beer and finally, the Taste. The scale for the ratings will range from 1-5, one being the worst and five being the best.

The first beer I am reviewing is Southern Tier's porter. Southern Tier is a wonderful microbrewery from Lakewood, N.Y., who opened their doors in 2002. According to their Web site, they currently produce over 18,000 barrels annually.

Southern Tier is known for their outrageous flavors, such as their pumpkin beer named Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale. It's like drinking pumpkin pie.

Southern Tier's Porter is 5.6 percent alcohol per volume (APV), which is about average for a good porter, but could be considered a little high. The beer is fairly dark in color but not that strong in taste, which allows it to go down extremely smooth and leaves a watery finish; something which is out of character for a porter.  

It has a semi strong smell with hints of chocolate and coffee. The head has a very good medium coffee color to it. Overall, I give this beer a B  rating.

The second beer I am reviewing is Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout. Brooklyn Brewery is properly one of my most favorite micro breweries, from Brooklyn, N.Y. The Brewery opened their doors in 1988.

Today, Brooklyn Brewery is known as one of the top 40 breweries in America. According to Brooklyn Brewery's Web site, www.brooklynbrewery.com, "We use three mashes to brew each batch of this beer, achieving a luscious deep dark flavor through a blend of specially roasted malts."

The guys at Brooklyn Brewery hit this one perfectly with this craft. When you pour this beer in to the glass, it instantly foams to a beautiful head with a rich dark coffee/chocolate color. When the head dissipates, the beer turns into a wonderful, dark stout full of flavor, with strong notes of chocolate it.

Along with those notes of chocolate you get a hint of alcohol as an after taste, which is expected with a beer that is 10.1 percent APV. Overall, I give this beer a B+ : drink with caution.