Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Great Lakes Brewing Co. – Cleveland, Ohio

Style: American porter

Serving temperature: 50˚F, 10˚C

Alcohol content: 5.8% abv

            It might seem strange to name a beer after a shipwreck. But for Great Lakes Brewing, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 is a strong, identifying link to the traditions and history of this Midwestern region. Its portfolio nods toward a local hero (Commodore Perry IPA) and a Cleveland financier (Rockefeller Bock). One ale smirks at a city laughingstock (Burning River Pale Ale). Another (Elliot Ness Amber Lager) is a tribute to the lawman who left his mark at the taproom’s bullet-riddled grand Tiger Mahogany bar.

            All of those are fine, full-flavored styles. But among beer experts, it’s this superbly styled porter that rises to world-class status.

            A massive roasted malt aroma rises from an ink-black pint glass. Despite its forbidding appearance, the body is light and quite easy to swallow, offering an outstanding complexity of rich malt flavors, especially burnt toast and bitter chocolate. The finish is rich, satisfying and clean.

            A sip of its outstanding roasted malt body puts one in the mood to listen once again to the song of that fateful night, when – in the words of songwriter Gordon Lightfoot – “the gales of November came slashing.”

-Joe Sixpack