In an effort to draw a little attention to the beer that I have locally, I’m trying to post a little more frequently about Indiana beers. So, I’m starting with what I’ve gotten recently. As I’ve stated before, I’m a fan of Samuel Smith’s Tadcaster Porter and consider it the best that I’ve had in the style. Therefore, any porter that I drink is measured against this great example.

Mad Anthony Porter was pretty dark looking beer when it was in the glass. There was not any head retention in the beer to speak of, which is not necessarily a huge disappointment for me. In fact, I have a good friend who prefers that many porters and stouts are flatter than other styles.

In the aroma of this porter, there were some nice roasty qualities, some decent chocolate notes, and no hops to speak of. Again, this is not inappropriate to the style in my opinion. Some biscuity qualities were also noticeable on the nose of the beer.

As far as the taste is concerned, Mad Anthony was not a smooth as I personally prefer a porter to be. As I said in the aroma portion of the review, there were some biscuity qualities to the beer. A fair amount of bitterness was present in the beer, and it is was pretty full flavored. Some of the chocolate from the nose also came into play when drinking Mad Anthony.

I have to say that I thought the beer was okay. My wife enjoyed it quite a bit, but it lacked some qualities that I look for in a porter, namely, it wasn’t very velvety (smooth), and it was perhaps a little too full on the roast. However, it wasn’t a bad beer. It simply wasn’t what I expect a Porter to be.  I’ve got Cannonball from Wabash that I’m going to throw into the ring at some point.  Let’s see how Indiana beers compare.

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¼☆ 

Among other Porters: ★★¾☆☆ 

Among other Indiana beer: ★★★☆☆