Anchor Porter:
Greetings friends and curiosity seekers.  Today we continue our venture with Anchor brewing and their impressive line up of beer.  I see porters and stouts as very diverse beers with more uses than just filling a pint glass; uses in beer breads, batter to fry things (fish, chicken, steak), shakes, floats are just a few ways to use these beers as well as infusing them with fruits and spices.  Anchor’s Porter beer is one of those beers that deserves to be tried in a variety of places but I’d recommend the first stop being a chilled glass in front of you.  The beer pours very well with a nearly pitch black coloration, a thick head that is caramel in color and about two fingers in thickness and a nose of chocolates and coffee (pretty normal for a good porter).  The taste is two stage with the first stage being heavy in a silk-coffee flavor with a very mellow booze taste similar to adding a shot of whiskey to your morning cup of java (I know I’ve been tempted on some Monday mornings to do that).  The after taste is heavy with roasted malts and coats the back of the tongue, very similar to the same mouth feel that Guinness has in it’s aftertaste.  This is a very good beer, very good.  All this beer is missing is a shot of whiskey or a blender containing chocolate ice cream.  This is a must try for anyone who loves dark beers and, much like Southern Stars Buried Hatchet Stout, this needs to be sampled by as many as possible so that it’s awesomeness can be spread to the uninitiated.