LIVING—AND DRINKING—HISTORY IN BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT
Hanley Porter, Brewport Brewpub, Bridgeport, Ct. Abv 6.0
We’re faced with a tough choice every Presidents Day weekend. Max’s in Baltimore puts on perhaps the best Belgian beer selection in the United States and the Blue and Gray Beer show in Virginia brings together great beers with friends and brewers we see almost nowhere else. We always wind up choosing the latter and rarely regret the decision. This year’s event took over two floors of the Hilton Hotel near Dulles Airport and in addition to a couple of nearly non-stop hospitality rooms, featured room-to-room trading, drinking, and story swapping.
One of the highlights is meeting up with Jeff Browning, a Connecticut brewer who has become a fixture at this gathering. For years he was the creative force behind the beers at The Brü Rm. at BAR in New Haven, but has moved on to his own place in Bridgeport. He came across a treasure trove of several Connecticut Breweries’ 18th 19th century beer recipes a few years and is now reviving them with the help of Dr. Terry Foster, a chemist and life-long beer scholar. His Hanley Porter, rich and creamy with lots of chocolate roast flavor, was one of the best of the hospitality room offerings this year.
The Hanley Porter recipe originated in Ireland in the 19th century and made its way to the Hanley brewery in Providence, R. I. Browning says this about the brewing process: Our brew had OG 15ºP, 6.0% ABV, 70 IBU (English Challenger hops – they didn’t grow hops in Ireland!). Black malt was the only roast malt produced at that time so we use only pale and black in our brewing with a few additional secret ingredients.
If you’re headed to or through New England, Brewport justifies a detour through Bridgeport. Nine house beers and well over a dozen guest taps give you lots of choice to match with the pizza from their 10,000 pound gas fired brick oven.
Tasting notes: A dark brown robust porter. Very rich and creamy with a chocolate ice cream finish and some bitter chocolate in the aftertaste. Some lactose notes last into the aftertaste.
Food Pairings: While it doesn’t have the big alcoholic strength of many dessert beers, it’s big enough in flavor to complement a dessert course. And, of course, if you’re at the brewery— pizza. Beer Review # 0099 20170405
NEXT UP (APRIL 7) WE’LL FEATURE ANOTHER BEER WE FOUND AT BLUE AND GRAY: ASLIN’S ASTRO ZOMBIE
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