Acetio | Blogma

I will never abandon Dogfish Head's 90-minute, but super-hoppy ales can only take me so far, particularly in this intense summer heat I'm experiencing in Georgia. I still want a full-flavored beer, but not one as cloying as the high-ABV beers tend to be.

I've been enjoying porters and stouts more lately, but those can be too heavy as well
- meaning I feel physically full after one or two.

So here comes New Belgium (best-known for their Fat Tire) with something that is like a stout or porter but not as heavy - and similar to Guiness but much more flavor.

I have not heard of "Black Ale" as a distinction before. Saranac makes a Black Forest Ale that is somewhat similar (and also quite good) but that is the only other example I know of.

info on the New Belgium site

Beer Advocate gives them a B+
ratebeer.com gives them an 87%
(but what do those jerks know?!)

I used to look down on porters because of a story I heard long ago about the pubs in Olde England: Whenever a keg got down below 1/4-full, the barkeep would dump the remains in a common cask, glasses of which were sold for half-price. This beer tended to be flatter and tended to be a very average ale - not light or dark or sweet or hoppy - but also unpredictable, and likely starting to go a little sour. The porters, who were the equivalent of all our FedEx and UPS and DHL and USPS delivery men (and some women) would stop in a few times per day to fill up, but only had enough for the cheapest ale, and tended to drink from the common cask as it was cheaper. Hence the tradition of calling the common-cask ale "Porter's Ale".

I don't know of that's true, but from my knowledge of couriers and FedEx delivery guys in New York, they smoke a joint every two hours, and/or pick up their "lunch" from the corner liquor store. Given that they are our modern-day porters, naming a beer after a group known for having a low-cost and perpetual buzz on makes sense.

"Porter" nowadays seems to mean an ale somewhere between a "red" and a stout, often with distinctive smokiness. The good ones are very good.