Anchor Porter

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Location: San Francisco, CA
Style: Porter
Brewery Website
Rating: A

In my glass today is the Anchor Porter. The Anchor Porter pours an opaque brownish-black color with some ruby highlights. The nose detects smoke, caramel, banana and some berry-like fruity ester notes.

On the palate the Anchor Porter has a nice roasted note up front reminiscent of roasted almonds. There are some notable complex, fruity notes of berry and banana. Herbal hops sit in the background. Dark toast fades in after a bit. Several minutes after pouring some of the fruity ester notes dissipate and the flavor evolves to that of a rich, fruity dark chocolate. The Anchor Porter is medium-bodied with some slight carbonation on the mouthfeel. The finish is deep-roasted bittersweet chocolate/coffee with a banana highlight.

The Anchor Porter may not have big, over-the-top roasted and smoky flavors, but it has some fantastic complexity that really sets this apart from the typical porter. There are some really interesting fruity notes here. While I found the fruit (the banana note in particular) to be a bit much at first, this beer actually improves after being allowed to breathe for a few minutes. The fruit then mellows out and you are left with what is simply an awesome brew.