St. Peter's Old-Style Porter (ENG)

Suffolk-based St. Peter's has a reputation for brewing traditional ales, but their website now shows they have a gluten free offering. That's pretty low on the list of the ones I want to try. My Old-Style Porter comes in a round, rather than oval, olive green 500 ml bottle. "This beer is a blend of old mature ale and a younger light beer," says the label.

Dark brown/mahogany with a restrained head, the aroma is sweeter than the flavor will prove to be. It's dry, roasted dark chocolate with a charcoal undertone. Not as smoky as Stone's Smoked Porter (thankfully, IMO), but still persistently so. There are some slightly bitter hops at the end, and even a yeasty Belgian aspect to it. However, those are both in the background. The body has pinpoint carbonation but also might be a bit too thin for me. In fairness, this is a porter and not a stout. That's the problem with these pricey imports: "sessionable" just doesn't seem to be enough.

An excellent porter, but maybe not as good as Edmund Fitzgerald, and certainly not as good a value. I'd still love to try the cask version of the St. Peter's.