Friday 9 September 2011

Fuller's London Porter

Washing the dishes is a particularly hated chore, one I was putting off doing all day.  I kept finding new tasks to keep me occupied to delay the inevitable.  Finally, I proclaimed that I'd finally get to them after I reviewed a beer.  In keeping with my desire to prolong dish washing, I naturally chose to review a beer that eats like a meal.
Fuller's London Porter hails from Chiswick, London, England.  I enjoyed it from a 500mL can.  It measures in at a robust 5.4%.  It pours an extremely dark brown, bordering on black, but with a shadow of red when held up to the light.  The London Porter displays a thick tan head that doesn't seem to want to fully dissipate.  The aroma is earthy, roasted and toasty.  The taste is very full.  It begins bitter, but this quickly gives way to a fulsome, malty sweetness.  There are definite notes of chocolate lurking in this brew, but not milk chocolate.  Think black 84% cacao chocolate that is just as much bitter as sweet.

The packaging makes two claims.  The first is that the London Porter is "the World's Finest."  I'm not prepared to go quite that far.  After all, there are countless porters out there that I haven't even tried.  Still, this is a damn fine porter--well worth a try.  The other claim is that the beer is "rich, dark and complex."  Now this is language that I can endorse without reservation.  Those are likely the adjectives that I would have come up with myself to describe these suds (though I might have thrown "robust" or "luxurious" into the mix as well.  In short, this is a great beer.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

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