So, what's the difference between a stout and a porter anyway?  Well... Hmmm... Nothing really.  Porters get their name from 17th century England, when batches of malt were mistakenly scorched and over-roasted, they were made into a cheaper beer that was consumed by the working man, many of them "porters".  Stouts are made the very same way (but on purpose). The roasted malts give the beer a deep, dark color and strong coffee, chocolate and smoke flavors.  Enough of semantics, The Smuttynose Robust Porter is a great, rich tasting beer with all of the smoke and chocolate you'd expect from a good Stout...er, Porter.  Portsmouth New Hampshire is one of my favorite vacation spots and the fine folks at Smuttynose (and their small Portsmouth Brewery in town) are one of the main reasons. They don't have a bad beer in their lineup. I'm very excited to have this one on tap. Cheers!

Official rating: A-