New England Series: Atlantic Brewing Company Coal Porter

There is nothing like a good porter to give you that dark beer fix without feeling completely full, like a heavier stout tends to do. I threw in a bottle of Atlantic Brewing Company's Coal Porter into my sixer-mixer (just made that up?) and I sure am glad I did.

The Bar Harbor, Maine based brewery credits itself as one of the premier breweries out of Maine. They moved their brewery a while back into a farm to give it a more "country" feel that seems to be missing from a lot of the industrial park breweries. It sounds and looks like a really great facility, which would make for a great excuse to drive to Maine sometime soon.

Coal Porter is a very dark brown, but not completely impenetrable to light, with a very creamy, mocha-colored head. Aromas rich with robust, roasty malt dominate, with a subtle sweetness similar to molasses (in a good way). The smell is an appropriate representation of the flavors to come, with very robust, dark malt profiles coming through strong up front with some sweetness in the middle and a hint of bitterness (but with no hop flavors) that dries out the finish a bit. It was also a lot smoother than I was anticipating based on the rush of bubbles in the glass. There was almost a silky quality to it despite looking as if it may have a strong carbonation bite.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this beer. Though it is sometimes fun to be mislead by aromas to make you surprised by the flavor of a beer, this ale smelt like it tasted which made each sip very full and complete from the scent and taste working together. I was not joking when I said this beer could get me to drive down east to Bar Harbor.