Chicagoist's Beer of the Week: Tyranena's Chief Blackhawk Porter

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Oct 17, 2014 9:30PM

This week, we're taking a look at one of our favorite styles to savor as soon as the temperatures drop into sweater weather.

Chief Blackhawk Porter comes to us from Tyranena Brewing Co. of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. It pours a deep, mahogany-brown color in the glass, with pillowy, tan foam. On the nose, we pick up fresh roasted coffee along with the dark malts and a hint of smoke. There's a little malty sweetness that hits up front on the palate, but the heavily roasted malts take over in short order to lend a little bitterness, along with touches of cocoa nibs, burnt caramel and roasted blueberries. There's very little hop presence, which is normal for a porter, but we did detect a little earthy, spicy bitterness on the backend that helps to balance the complex malt profile. At 5.6 percent alcohol content, Chief Blackhawk is relatively full-bodied, and a great representation of a classic style.

Porter is a style that has been redefined time and time again over the years. It's said that the style was originally created during the 1700s when bartenders were blending different beers together to cater to individual patron's tastes. After this practice became so common, and along with some advances in kilning technology to roast malts darker, brewers started making beer that tasted and looked more like those house blends to begin with. Today, we know porter as a dark brown, or deep ruby colored beer that derives the bulk of its flavor from mixing different, heavily roasted malts together in the grain bill. Alcohol contents can range significantly, but classic porters are usually more sessionable.

Chief Blackhawk is available on draft and in 12oz bottles. Check beermenus.com to see where you can pick some up this weekend.