Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Bully! Porter

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard's Bully! Porter - the beer with a bulldog on the label.

When fall turns to winter and the Friday Nights get longer, I often turn to beers that can be sipped after a meal. For nights like these, you really can't beat a porter.

As explained by the good folks at BA:

Porter is said to have been popular with transportation workers of Central London, hence the name. Most traditional British brewing documentation from the 1700’s state that Porter was a blend of three different styles: an old ale (stale or soured), a new ale (brown or pale ale) and a weak one (mild ale), with various combinations of blending and staleness. The end result was also commonly known as "Entire Butt" or "Three Threads" and had a pleasing taste of neither new nor old. It was the first truly engineered beer, catering to the public's taste, playing a critical role in quenching the thirst of the UK’s Industrial Revolution and lending an arm in building the mega-breweries of today. 

Porter saw a comeback during the homebrewing and micro-brewery revolution of the late 1970’s and early 80’s, in the US. Modern-day Porters are typically brewed using a pale malt base with the addition of black malt, crystal, chocolate or smoked brown malt. The addition of roasted malt is uncommon, but used occasionally. Some brewers will also age their beers after inoculation with live bacteria to create an authentic taste. Hop bitterness is moderate on the whole and color ranges from brown to black. Overall they remain very complex and interesting beers.

The Bully! Porter was out of a mix box that I bought in Chicago and had a best by date of August, but that had no impact on this beer. The beer had the initial coffee notes of a Guinness, but some additional complexities, with a hint of vanilla and some other earthy tones. I have one more left from the mix box and I intend to let it cellar for a few more months.

Boulevard Bully! Porter is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Kansas City, but the bottle I purchased did not have the certification mark on the label. If you would like the LOC from the Va'ad, please let me know and I will email it to you.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/1262.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. 

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable). 

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