Black Butte Porter

This is an all around great tasting beer from start to finish. It pours out almost a black in color with a caramel color head. When you first take a drink it has a malt taste with a nice chocolate finish. The hops are just right not too much. It sometimes reminds me of eating an ice cream sandwich. The IBU’s: 30 and the alcohol by Vol.5.2%. It’s a wonderful beer you can drink all day. I like to think it’s the perfect breakfast or camping beer. I drink this beer everyday.

More info on: Black Butte Porter

Cheers from Beer Molly!!

Having fun after hours at Port. Yikes — that is some good Bourbon! (It’s an Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon from 1993. Smoooooooth.)

You may have to call me Bourbon Molly from now on!

That’s Tomme Arthur, master brewer at Port Brewing / Lost Abbey. A great brewer and all around good guy, you can find Tomme at the brewery “masterbrewing” pretty much 7 days a week. On Friday and Saturdays the brewery is opening for tasting. Drop on by, meet Tomme and try a few of his beers.

» Directions to Port Brewing / Lost Abbey

What a blast it was to have a few pints in this pub. The bartenders (Aaron and Megan) were funny and knew their beers.

I started off with the porter on special, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing.

It wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think I would order it again as I felt it lacked a good finish. Sort of watery at the end, if you know what I mean.

Next on my list was Sinebrychoff Porter.

It’s an unfiltered beer brewed by using top fermentation. It had a kind of fruity taste that I didn’t expect to come from such a dark porter. The chocolate flavor was a good balance with the fruity flavor. It was good and I would drink it again.

Then Megan the bartender and I spilt a Stovepipe Porter from the Otter Creek Brewing.

It has a nice dark color but it was a little hoppy for my taste. It’s not a bad beer to keep around and drink.

Following the Stovepipe Porter I moved on to the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. (I blogged this one from my phone while I was there.)

This beer in not for the week-hearted beer drinker. It is so smoky I thought I fire department would show up. But the beer has a nice balance with the malts and the smoky after taste. I would like it if some place around me sold this beer.

My last beer was O’Fallon Smoked Porter.

I’m sorry to say that after the beer before, my taste buds were no longer working right so I will have to retry this beer again. I do know I would have liked it if I had started off with this beer.

All-in-all, I give The Map Room 5 out of 5 pints!

And for your viewing pleasure, a few photos of the Map Room:

An outstanding beer selection

Lots of specials both on tap and in the bottle

And how could it be “The Map Room” without maps all over the walls?

On your next visit to Chicago, make sure to stop by:

» The Map Room

A glass of Padre Porter from Oggi’s — a classic porter-style beer. Nothing fancy, but it tastes great!

This is a glass of Black Magic Stout alongside Beer Buddy’s glass of Hop 101, both from Oggi’s Pizza & Brew in Vista, California. I had hoped that three months of barrel aging would have added something to the flavor of the beer, but I think it actually took it away. The beer has almost no flavor at all. Disappointing…

Tonight we’re at Oggi’s Pizza and Brew in Vista, California to try a few of the beers they brew here. We haven’t been here in quite a while, so I’m looking forward to tasting a few.

Starting St Pattys off right