I don't think people here are drinking enough beer. Regardless, tonight's review is the Benchwarmer Porter from the Cooperstown Brewing Co. This brewery has a lot to live up to, as Cooperstown is also the home of Ommegang, one of my favorite US breweries. Their line up (har har) is a little more traditional, though, and they're all named after baseball. I paid $1.89 for one 12 oz, so this is on the cheaper side. The ABV is not specified.
(I took the pic of the bottle after I'd already poured it into my glass.) The beer pours with much, much more head than I've come to expect from porters. It was foaming at the top of the bottle even after I opened it. It's again on the lighter side for porters, but not as disappointingly light as, say, the Yuengling.
The smell is a little different from some porters. It doesn't smell as much of coffee or hops. There's a little bit of vanilla and wood. The taste, though, it a little more traditional. The coffee is there, but still subdued compared to some. There's a little creaminess to it, and some of the bubbly sharpness from the high level of carbonation. The vanilla comes though a little, too, and it's nice and malty. It's very light on the hops. I'm going to give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. It's not my favorite porter, but it's pretty reasonable, esp. for the price.