The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

We all at Colby love to drink. If that weren't true, this column wouldn't exist. While the beer review section has a strong population of regular readers, I somehow think most don't heed the suggestions of the reviews in question. Over the course of the next few weekends, countless students will down keg after keg of shameful, shameful beers. This may come down to a matter of simple economics. It's far cheaper to buy a thirty rack of Natty than it is to buy the same volume of Grolsch, for instance. This is a tragic trend, and in the next few paragraphs I hope to introduce all of you to some affordably priced brews that still have flavor.

This week we'll be looking at McGovern's Oatmeal Stout and St.Nick's Porter. Joining me in this review are seniors Lena Barouh and Joel Biron.

McGovern's Oatmeal Stout, released by the Belfast Bay Brewing Co., runs for $7.99 for a six-pack at Joka's. As you may have noticed, this column features a lesser-known porter and stout. For those who don't immediately recognize these styles, Stouts are dark, thick beers that feature strong chocolate, coffee and nut notes. Porters are like stouts, except they have a much stronger hop presence. McGovern's is almost jet black, keeps a good chestnut head, and opens with a fragrant hop odor. Unfortunately, these advertised hops are present nowhere in the beer; McGovern's is sufficiently under-hopped. The stout features prominent coffee and chocolate notes, with a full nutlike body. Yet the beer lacks the rich oatmeal flavor characteristic of an oatmeal stout. Aside from this detraction, for eight dollars, it's a fine beer. Barouh commented that it "seemed a bit thin," while Biron admitted that perhaps it would be better served at a warmer temperature (I poured the bottle straight from an hour in the fridge).

It's very difficult to judge what a porter should be. Randy Mosher in Radical Brewing (Brewer's Publications, 2004) wrote that "contemporary porters vary hugely in color, bitterness, gravity, and flavor, and occupy every bit of the territory between brown ale and stout." The American version of a porter is a thick, highly hopped beer that is as black as its cousin the stout. Some of these rich beers are aged for months on end to develop complicated flavor sets.

St. Nick's porter, brewed by Andrew's Brewery in Lincolnville, ME, was very disappointing. Historically, the porter has grown hoppier and darker. Yet St. Nick's seems to lack both. This porter opens with a fragrant hop bouquet, yet like the stout, these magnificent little buds are nowhere to be found in the glass. It was surprisingly thin, under hopped, and was only dark enough to be called a "dark brown ale." Biron mentioned that St. Nick's was "like the Diamond Building. We all had such high expectations, and in the end we were all betrayed and left with a product that was cold and soulless." The porter runs for $7.49 at Joka's, and while the oatmeal stout is 50¢ more expensive, it's certainly worth the extra cash.

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