Beer with Troughear
J.Boag & son
Honey Porter 5.5% Tasmania
U'S always good to see the established breweries putting out seasonal beers, so we can have something different every so often. This is the third edition of the Boag's Honey Porter and it seems to be as good as its predecessors. The (almost unreadable) back label says porter is a "mysterious and elusive" style of beer.
Probably, what they mean is that, porter was a varied beast in the early 1700s in England, when it was being developed. Then in the 1800s, when it became a massive industry in its own right, it was different again, because of new brewing techniques. Then it was overtaken by pale ales of various sorts and then it finally died out in England under the weight of World War I restrictions on coal use that prevented the extra roasting of the malt to make dark beer.
So the porters we have now are revivals of dead been that had a lot of variety. One of the many types of modem porter that has become a bit trendy is honey porter. Porter is generally rich, tasty and well hopped - a meal in a bottle - but Boag's Honey Porter goes a little easy on the hops and adds a smooth overlay of honey instead.
It goes down well enough and someone out for a fairly sweet beer that wasn't too sticky would like it. Good for a cool evening or some solid food I had a bottle with some Turkish pidda and it didn't cause any problems, even when I added a d0llop of hot chilli sauce. So it looks like a versatile beer. It was good on its own, too, and it went well with some dessert
Boag's beers are like that -versatile, without being overpowering - and this is one of their good beets. Not everyone will like the combination of sweetness with wide British bitterness at the finish, but there's a place for it, and since they didn't make very much of it, you're not likely to have the opportunity of getting sick of it. In general this is a - beer you will probably enjoy a couple of bottles at a time. It's got a quite nourishing feel about it.
Available: Mostly at Theo's outlets.
Typical prices: single $3.50; 6-pack $18; carton $60
-Tony Troughear
The Exotic Beer Club:
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