Stout and Porter Tasting Ideas

[mosquitocontrol]

So instead of going out to a nice dinner for my birthday this weekend I want to take home my favorite pizza that I can only get a 1-2 times a year (Caserta's in Providence) and have mini stout tasting. I did one with my friend at the beginning of the year. But I was not fond of stouts then. Nearly all were all results of expensive beer trading and by the end of the night I admit I had forgotten pretty much all of the names.

Anyway, lately I've been craving stouts and porters, especially with fall here. I want to brew a bunch in the near future but I'm still learning what I like. I'm thinking of getting 6-12 beers and having a mini tasting so I figured I'd get some input from everyone here. Hopefully I can get a pretty broad spectrum. Needs to be something I can find at Total Wine or equivalent. In general I like the stouts that have obvious flavors. Think oatmeal, coffee, cream, chocolate, etc. But I'm open to try some more original of the style. Any ideas appreciated.

 

[motobrewer]

goose island oatmeal stout is a classic.
sprecher's RIS
sierra nevada porter
flying dog gonzo porter

the key to darker beers is temp. like, 45F minimum. i wouldn't touch sprecher's RIS until it's at least 50F.

 

[Naked_Eskimo]

My personal #1 Porter : Bells Porter
My personal #1 Stout : Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout.

 

[MrInternet]

Hmmmmm... these are my reco's:

PORTER
Great Lakes Brewing - Edmund Fitzgerald
Samuel Smith's - The Famous Taddy Porter
Bell's Brewery - Porter
Smuttynose - Baltic Porter (drink SLOWLY hehe)

STOUT
North Coast Brewing - Old Rasputin RIS (also very strong, drink slowly/small)
Samuel Smith's - Oatmeal Stout (fantastic)
Sierra Nevada - Stout
Rogue - Shakespeare

Those will put you to bed....

 

[mosquitocontrol]

Yes I know we will be on our --- by the end of it. But that is partially the point and precisely what happened the first time. We will most likely just be doing it in the basement of my in-laws house while we visit for the weekend. Also, since it will only be 2-4 of us at any one time I'm just going to get 12oz if possible to get the most variety.

Other than the Rogue Shakespear and the Gonzo Porter (which is my fiances favorite beer and I used to dislike so I HAVE to get it) we haven't had any of those mentioned so I'll definitely check out whats available. Thanks total wine for having your complete beer list online for me to check out in advance! Although I've had a decent number of stouts recently its gonna be fun to try everyone's favorites.

 

[tallybrewer]

Bell's Expedition Stout. Serious chocolate.

 

[jamesjensen1068]

Guinness just released their Foreign Extra Stout 7.5% in the U.S. just starting this month. Said to be an excellent beer...makes up like 45% of their world-wide sales.

I also like Beamish and Murphy's

Cheers

 

[PirateBrewer]

So instead of going out to a nice dinner for my birthday this weekend I want to take home my favorite pizza that I can only get a 1-2 times a year (Caserta's in Providence) and have mini stout tasting. I did one with my friend at the beginning of the year. But I was not fond of stouts then. Nearly all were all results of expensive beer trading and by the end of the night I admit I had forgotten pretty much all of the names.

Anyway, lately I've been craving stouts and porters, especially with fall here. I want to brew a bunch in the near future but I'm still learning what I like. I'm thinking of getting 6-12 beers and having a mini tasting so I figured I'd get some input from everyone here. Hopefully I can get a pretty broad spectrum. Needs to be something I can find at Total Wine or equivalent. In general I like the stouts that have obvious flavors. Think oatmeal, coffee, cream, chocolate, etc. But I'm open to try some more original of the style. Any ideas appreciated.

I'm headed up to Providence this weekend too! Weird! Anyway, enjoy your birthday! It looks like you have all the recs you need for your little dinner but if you can get any local beer (don't know if Newport Storm makes a stout or porter), I'd definitely go for that!

 

[bh10]

Guinness just released their Foreign Extra Stout 7.5% in the U.S. just starting this month. Said to be an excellent beer...makes up like 45% of their world-wide sales.

I also like Beamish and Murphy's

Cheers

Maybe just in NE, but Ive always been able to get Guinness Extra.

 

[ColonelForbin]

not sure what they carry where you live but here is a list of some of my all time favorites seperated into imperial and regular stouts

Alesmith Speedway Stout
Peche' Mortel
Great Divide - Chocolate and Espresso Yeti
DFH - World Wide Stout
Haand Brygiet - Odin's Tipel

Rogue Chocolate Stout
Youngs Double Chocolate stout
Bar Harbor - Cadillac Mountain Stout

 

[MrInternet]

Maybe just in NE, but Ive always been able to get Guinness Extra.

Well, "Extra" and "Foreign Extra" are actually two different beers... the FE they have historically produced in the Caribbean and I heard a rumor it was being released stateside finally this year? I had it in St. Maarten this summer and it was awesome... extra hoppy and dry/roasty...

 

[jamesjensen1068]

Bh10,
Guinness Extra Stout and Guinness "Foreign Extra Stout" are two different beers. The "foreign" version was never released in the US and has a 7.5% abv. I actually live in Council Bluffs, IA. I checked and we won't get it in IA until mid October due to being a 5 cent deposit state...that's what I was told by my wine and spirits guy at Hy Vee.