Saranac Caramel Porter - Matt Brewing Company, Utica

There aren't many beers that have a better sounding name. Caramel Porter... it conjures memories of sticky caramel candies and creamy dark Porter beers. Mmmm it just sounds delicious. Perhaps I had unreal expectations of this beer, because all of my hopes were dashes as soon as I took my first sip. Saranac's Caramel Porter was probably doomed long before I picked this beer up from the store. You see, these flavors don't really work all that well together. The creamy and chalky Porter might just be too bitter to play nicely with the caramel. It sounds like it'd be a match made in craft beer heaven, and maybe it could still work... but Saranac wasn't able to pull it off.

The Caramel Porter didn't end up being a horrible beer, it just wasn't anything like what I'd expected. The caramel flavor in this beer is little more than an afterthought. By that I mean you take a sip and afterwards you have to think pretty hard about where the caramel was hiding. Spoiler Alert: It was hiding behind the Porter. This beer is so much a Porter that Saranac should have just labeled it a Porter with a hint of caramel.

If you think of this beer as just a Porter then it fairs quite a bit better than as a Caramel Porter. As a Porter, this beer is pretty much spot on. It looks and tastes like a Porter that has a tiny little caramel twang as a bonus. If you're a fan of Porters then I'd suggest you pick up this beer, but if you really like caramel then you shouldn't waste your time with the Saranac "Caramel" Porter.