Great Lakes Brewing - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Dead Soldier 

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Great Lakes Brewing
2516 Market Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio USA
Est. 1988
www.greatlakesbrewing.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.8 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 (3 oz. sample)

Postmortem Brew Review
Almost completely black in color.
Smell of roasted barley and coffee.
Off white head, about one finger high, covers to wisp.
Strings and spots of lacing down the side of the glass.
Bittersweet chocolate/coffee taste; malts are very present.
Medium bodied mouth feel. Extremely easy drinker. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
This blog post was done live at the first ever Beer Blogger's Conference, held in Boulder Colorado. 108 bloggers were in attendance, from over five hundred identified blogs. Luminaries of the craft beer world also attended to serve as presenters and keynote speakers for the event. A "speed round" of blogging was held by 12 brewers, each bringing an exemplary brew to blog. 12 beers, 12 blogging tables and 60 minutes were allotted in a fun, free-for-all session. 

Round #5

Me with Kami & Lauren from GLBC

If I could have a nickel for every time I said, "Craft beer brings the nicest people together", I would be a rich man. As luck would have it, I am blessed with many great friendships; lots of them over sharing a good beer.  Here is no exception. Riding in on the shuttle from DIA to BBC10, I had the great fortune to meet two lovely representatives from Great Lakes Brewing.  Lauren and Kami were also headed to Boulder for the conference. We struck up a lively discussion about craft beer and their company from Cleveland.

At the 'lightning round' they brought along this porter, the Edmund Fitzgerald. Memorializing the iron-ore ship that sank during a storm on Lake Superior in 1975, this porter pays tribute to those that perished with the ship. Many of them on board were Clevelanders. They had explained during the ride to the hotel about this porter and spoke with great pride and passion about it. That's the thing about craft beer...people really get excited because it is good and they want to share that experience with others.

Sampling the beer, I noted how well balanced the malts were, leaving a creamy smooth texture on the tongue.  It played with the chocolate and coffee tones providing a bitter sweet finish. Perhaps it shows as a most fitting tribute to those hands that were lost on that evening, so long ago.

We do not get this porter in my part of the US, but I will make a point to seek it out when visiting Ohio. Very tasty and it makes a great sessionable choice.