BEER

Walking past beer shelves or staring at tap handles across a bar, today’s modern beer consumer is likely to see stouts outnumbering porters. That’s too bad, because while both are dark colored ales, porters generally offer a smoother tasting experience, letting the roasted malts shine a little brighter.

Roasty aromas and flavors should be at the forefront of the style, including others in the family like robust porter, and Baltic porter. Their visual appeal is quite apparent. They can range from medium brown in color, with garnet highlights, to darker brown with tan- or mocha-colored heads that usually last for a long time when properly