Sweetwater Tavern Chipotle Porter

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Sweetwater Tavern specialized in Southwestern Tex-Mex cuisine, and that is also the theme of the restaurant. But make no mistake, Sweetwater Tavern is first and formost a brewpub, and beer is the star. The brewmaster at Sweetwater Tavern is a man named Nick Funnel, who is originally from England, but he doesn't brew only British beer styles, lagers are done as well. Just about a week ago, I enjoyed a fantastic, deep malty, nutty, and delicious Octoberfest. Sweetwater does however take that Southwestern theme, and works it into the beer on occasion. A perfect example of this would be Sweetwater's Chipotle Porter. This beer in an English porter with a Southwestern twist, it is brewed with some hickory smoked malt, and spiced with chipotle chile peppers, which are dryed, hictory smoked jalapeno peppers. These chiles work so well in this beer. The dry, smokey, and spicy character of chipotle give this roasty, and coffeeish brew a whole new dimension. Chipotle porter pours to a deep brown/black color, with a creamy white head, and a soft carbonation. The nose on this beer is awesome. Hints of smoke, roast, coffee, and dark malt aromas flood the nose. The palate is a very firm malt backbone of dark malts flavors. Dark chocolate and roast with the addition of a slight heat sensation from the chiles. This beer finishes with more roasty malt character up front then dries into a long, sooty, smokey, spicy finish. This is one fantastic beer, Armadillo porter the base of this beer won a GABF Silver in 1998. So without the addition of the chipotle chiles, this beer alone is fantastic. With that addition of chipotle its even better in my opinion. Match this beer with barbecue, Tex-Mex, or Mexican fare. When ever this beer is on, I always pair this with Tex-Mex eggrolls. They are eggrolls stuffed with smoked chicken, corn, black beans, onions, peppers, jalapeno jack cheese, and served with an avocado dipping sauce. Sweet Water Tavern is one of the best brewpubs around.