United Nations of Beer

Stovepipe porter

by Sam Corbeil
(Beer Delegate, ON, Canada)

Stovepipe porter
Otter Creek, VT, USA

Although this is technically my first review for the United Nations of Beer and I'm technically only a Beer Delegate for the province of Ontario, I thought I'd break from tradition and review a beer that hails from outside the borders of this fine province. And not only the borders of this fine province but also this fine country!

On a road trip to Vermont to catch the last few days of the skiing season, I thought I’d have a few local beers to taste a little of what the Green Mountain State had to offer. A friend of mine had told me that Vermont had a strong and loyal Craft Brewing industry, so I thought no time like the present to give some of them a try.

We had stopped at a local pub after skiing to grab a bite to eat, so I asked the bartender what micros they had on tap or in bottles. It wasn't a long list, but there was definitely a wide range of styles to choose from. I had ordered a hamburger, medium rare of course, and I wanted a beer that would match the robust flavours of grilled beef.

After hearing the selections, I decided upon the Otter Creek Stovepipe porter. The bottle came with my meal and before I even touched my burger I grabbed the bottle and slowly poured the cold, black liquid into my glass.

It was as dark as soot and poured nicely with a thick tan head. I picked up the glass, gave it a twirl and smelled the beer. It had a strong roasted, coffee aroma you'd expect from a porter followed by a refreshing light hint of hops.

I put the glass down, grabbed my burger and took a bite. Delicious, but I needed to see how the beer would match the beef. So I washed down my bite with a hearty swig of the porter.

Magic. The roasted flavours of the beer melded perfectly with the char gilled flavour of the burger. And once the roasted flavours dissipated, a nice hoppy finish followed.

My taste buds were doing a jig. And for the next ten minutes there was nothing else in the world but my beer and my burger. Bite, swig, melt. Bite, swig, melt. That's pretty much how it went until I was done. Truly a delicious meal.

After dinner we headed back to the condo, but not before we stopped at the local store and I picked up a variety pack of Otter Creek beers. If the Stovepipe porter was any indication, I was going to need to try some more beers from this wonderful local brewery.