Chicagoist's Beer of the Week: Revolution Brewing's Eugene Porter
By Jason Baldacci in Food on Sep 20, 2013 8:25PM
Despite the fact that temperatures made their way back up into the 80s yesterday, the chill that was in the air earlier in the week gave us a serious taste for some dark beer.
Eugene Porter has been a mainstay for Revolution Brewing Co. since they first opened the doors to their brewpub on Milwaukee Avenue in 2010. Now, three and a half years and a larger scale production facility later, Eugene flows through draft lines all over the city and sits on store shelves in increasingly popular can. We pick up fresh roasted coffee on the nose, along with a hint of baker's chocolate. The palate is chock full of rich, well-rounded maltiness that almost comes across as chewy, which we find extremely pleasing. Beyond the roasted malts, there's a wonderful pop of bitter cocoa nib, a whisper of blueberry, and a little lingering smokiness on the finish. At 6.8 percent alcohol content, Eugene is full-bodied and full-flavored, but not the least bit overpowering. If you find yourself out on a cool night, this beer will taste better and better with every sip. If you happen to be around a bonfire (even one in a Weber grill), a can of Eugene could make the night damn near perfect.
When people ask us what the difference is between a porter and a stout, our stock answer for the past couple years has been this: a lot of gray area. While the styles are very similar, porters are traditionally brewed by using a plethora of dark roasted malts, and stouts are brewed with more emphasis on one specific malt that's roasted as dark as malt can be roasted without charring completely. What does that mean, exactly? Essentially, a porter will typically drink a little heavier on the palate and boast richer flavors, while a stout will usually be more crisp, dry, and bitter. That's not to say that a porter can't put forth bitterness, and that a stout can't be on the sweeter side (sweet stout is a whole style in and of itself), these are just generalizations based on what's more common in traditional representations of these styles. Brewers today take a lot of liberties and tend to blur the lines of these styles and many others, but that's also a big part of what makes craft beer interesting. At the end of the day, if it tastes good, drink it up and order another.
Eugene Porter is readily available all year round on draft and in 12-ounce cans. Check beermenus.com to see who's serving it in your neighborhood, or swing by the Revolution Brewpub in Logan Square for a pint that's sure to be fresh.