Okocim Porter

For the longest time, one of the best values at beer stores everywhere has centered around Eastern European beer. While the “strong lager” brewed by many Polish, Russian, former-Soviet-republic breweries and so forth was a big hit with natives living in New York, giving a taste of home and a big bang for relatively little buck, I tried those and found them maybe a step up from good old malt liquor. I was not a fan. Then, I found Okocim, a brewery out of Brzesko, Poland. While they also brew the typical lager, I’d heard from friends that their porter [...]

Smuttynose Robust Porter

Today’s beer is one of my favorite locally-available porters, the Robust Porter from Smuttynose Brewing in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The brewery has been available in the city for over a decade, and is one of the more consistently good breweries in the Northeast. I’ve rarely had a clunker among the wide range of ales, and a couple of lagers, that they churn out regularly. Smuttynose started brewing in Portsmouth in 1994, releasing their pale ale and brown ale that year. Robust Porter came along in 2001. The brewery is linked to the Portsmouth Brewery in town, and I’ve found quite [...]