Anchor Porter

I reviewed Anchor's Steam beer some time ago, and if I recall correctly, I enjoyed it. Today it's time to try their porter offering. It comes in the same 12oz bottle, and has an unknown alcohol content (I suppose liquor laws in the US do not require that information to be given). It has a bit of information on the label giving a dubious claim that Anchor is one of the "most traditional" breweries in the world.

Upon opening, I eagerly sniffed up the roasted malt aroma. It was strong. It poured black, with a finger-sized dark tan head that lasted a long time. Initially, there were a lot of bubbles, but they became hard to see in the darkness. The aroma was unchanged from when I opened the bottle.

The first sip was pretty good.  While the beer was fairly bitter, it was quite balanced; my lips got a bit sticky from the residual sugar in the malts, but the flavour wasn't sweet at all.  The roasted malts stood proudly.  The beer was incredibly soft in the mouth, but there was ample carbonation.  This beer was pretty much what I expected of a porter.  I would probably drink this beer again if it was available locally.

Lucky Buddha

I have reservations about today's beer.  It comes from China.  On the plus side, it comes in a really cool 330mL green "fat buddha" bottle.  It has 4.8% alcohol/vol.  Can't really tell much from the outside of the bottle, as there is almost no labelling.

Upon opening, I detected a faint aroma of hops.  Then it disappeared.  It poured a disgustingly pale yellow colour, with a medium-sized white head that disappeared quickly.  There were a few small bubbles.  The aroma was hard to pinpoint; not very much of it.  The closest thing it smelled to was a domestic.

Fortunately, the beer had more flavour than aroma.  There wasn't much flavour, but it was slightly sweet.  The feel in the mouth was fairly soft, and there was absolutely no bitter aftertaste.  The only reason I can think of to buy this beer is for the bottle.  Everything else about the beer is sub-par; it even made Tsingtao look good.

No beer

I haven't had a beer in over a week. Ugh.


Don't worry, it's not because of choice.  It's more because of necessity.  I got a decently bad stomach bug a week and a half ago, and I've only recently recovered.  Slainte!