Toast of the Town
Toast of the Town - Idiom Brewing Co., Frederick, MD.
As a personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist, I think almonds are an excellent high protein snack that are delicious on their own, or when paired with something like yogurt or a salad. Now when they’re paired with (or rather used to make) beer…they take a bit of a different turn. They become more healthy for the soul than anything else.
It took me a while, but I finally made it out to Frederick after my boss relentlessly pestered me about it. To be fair, I live less than an hour away, so I definitely should’ve gone sooner. Here’s to you, Anthony. I generally only drink porters and stouts during the colder seasons because of that rich, warm feeling they can provide. But of course the day I make it out to Idiom Brewing Co. it’s 70 degrees and sunny. Oh well! I still very much enjoyed this toasted almond porter.
This is the description on the Idiom Brewing website reads: “We amped up the pale chocolate malt, adding some roasted barley and let it condition on pounds and pounds of fresh toasted almonds. Then added a dash of Madagascar Vanilla to smooth out the nooks and crannies for this nutty delicious delight.” I believe that Idiom is better known for their IPAs and sours, but I’m glad they have more than just that because I think they nailed this porter.
My favorite part of the beer is the fact that the almond taste is more of pleasant aftertaste rather than the predominant flavor. Those “pounds and pounds” of almonds they added didn’t take control, but they definitely nailed the slight bitterness an almond can have. I definitely got the vanilla and chocolate up front but not to the point where it was overpowering. Not sure if that’s what they were going for, but I certainly liked it this way. The almond flavor grew and grew with each new sip, which At 6% you could certainly have more than one in a sitting, but I wouldn’t rush through the first for the sake of getting to the second. I think one of the points of porters and stouts is to savor them just a bit more. Their richness can’t be rushed.
Luckily enough, they sell the stuff in cans, so I brought some home with me. The artwork is simple and tasteful. The brown buildings in the foreground and the snowy blue sky in the background do make it feel like I’m crackin’ one open on a snow day. Almost like curling up with a cup of hot chocolate on a white Christmas gettin’ ready to open presents. Whimsical almonds! It makes me happy to see little snowflakes on it because as I said earlier, I tend to lean into darker beers in the wintertime.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who doesn’t often drink this style of beer. As I stated earlier, it isn’t overpowering. I’d prefer to say that it’s lingering, but not in the way that eating too much McDonald’s can be lingering. Another word I’d use to describe it is exponential. Its taste grows more and more with each sip. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not nutty about this beer * heh * simply because it lingered almost a little too much, but I enjoyed it, and I recommend it.
Rating: 4.1/5