Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter is a full-flavored porter inspired by the famous drink of London’s Victorian era luggage porters. Brewed with generous portions of Caramel, Munich and Chocolate malt, this hearty porter finishes with traditional English Fuggles and East Kent Goldings. Cheers!
Calories = 212 per 12 oz.
Calories = 212 per 12 oz.
3.3
1247 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Pours dark mahogany with full, light tan head. Aroma is light roast and light caramel. Taste is light caramel, moving to roast and light coffee. Finish is roast. A decent porter.
Black pour, khaki head. Nose is coco. Middle is coffee and chocolate, roasted grain, little caramel, and a touch of subtle wood. Finish is malty and a little sweet.
Pours reddish-black with cream colored head. Aroma of chocolate and malt. Taste has notes of toasted malt and spices. Palate includes chocolate, cinnamon. Slightly watery, fairly light for this style.
This was my favorite from the Winter Classics variety pack. Not really one of those robust, super-chocolate, coffee loaded porters. It has some holiday spices added like cinnamon, etc. Not overwhelmed with spice though, which allows the tasty caramel and chocolate malts to stand out. A good overall balance with that slight bitter finish. I would love to find this in 6-packs, as it worth the price IMO.
From Dec 2005
Poured from the bottle(room temp) a very dark brown with reddish highlights, with a thick head that only remained a minute or so settling into a fine ring around the edge of the glass.
The smell is very sweet perhaps hinting at some chocolate.
The taste is semi sweet(like the chocolate) with very little hop presence and a noticeable grainy note.
Overall, it's a pretty good porter but it isn't one that I'd eagerly seek out.
Update: Dec 6, 2008
Well, I'm sipping on this years edition and I'll be danged if my first review isn't showing a lack of appreciation for this brew. Not sure what happened..changing and improving palate?
First off, the head was big and bold and lasted for the entire session.
The smell is full of roasted malt goodness with some sweet malt tones and a light fruitiness.
The taste is very nice with strong notes of roasted malt, light chocolate, caramel malt sweetness, dark fruitiness....very damn tasty.
The mouthfeel is medium and silky, the carbonation is close to medium but still light, and it finishes slightly bitter, slightly sweet.
Bottom line: This is a very good Porter that kept my interest from first sip to last swallow and is anything but average. My new "scores" will reflect that.
Cerveza color café-negruzco corona de espuma de burbujas compactas de mediana retención. Aromas a café, dulce y cierto toque terroso. Al paladar consistencia cremosa aún así bebible con notas a café, dulce, sutil chocolate. Muy agradable cerveza.
Bottle. Pours dark brown-black with tan head and lacing. Nose of bread crust, toffee, and chocolate cake. Malty bread crust followed by toffee and chocolate notes. Some earthiness and subtle citrus hops in the finish. Medium body; drinkable but still substantial. My favorite American porter. Excellent.
Drank from a twelve ounce bottle, thank you John! A nice well done porter, wish for a bit less body on this porter but good nonetheless.
Very light dark malt smell but of higher alcohol, hoppy flavor all around...front and back...one dimentional dark malt and hops is all there is...bitterness mellows with time...so slightly better then x2 3/12/16 to 11/1/21 no changes at all lol had at home as pandemic still carries on amongst the unvaxxed with ~746k US deaths
Posted from a 12 OZ bottle into a pint glass. Thea appearance is a brown color with a medium sized tan head. The aroma is full of roasted malt, nuts and vanilla. The taste of cocoa, malt and nuts are blended well with the vanilla. An outstanding porter.
Light fruity raisin aroma, white head with nice lacing. Clear coffee color. Malty flavor and balanced hop profile. Clean finish.
Bottle. Chocolate and caramel aroma follows thru to taste along with a little nuttiness some carbonation and a bitter chocolate finish. Pours a dark black with tan head. Nice lighter porter, very drinkable.
Great porter! Not too heavy and fairly easy to drink, Samuel adams makes very solid beers, they might be big now bit still craft enough
Pours translucent sepia with a thick and rather persistent light tan head. Aroma is not strong, but promises roast malt and hints of caramel and chocolate. Flavor comes forth much stronger, presenting roast malt, woody, caramel, chocolate and nutty tones. Mouthfeel features average body but plenty of strong fizz. Happy New Year!
A subdued aroma of chocolate pours a clear color no head. A dry feel without much of a taste. Bitter chocolate finish.
If all porters are this light im gonna have to start drinking more. Great for an inexperienced rater like me. Roasted and toasted and so smooth. Nothing overpowering. Great for pre or post meal on a cold day.
Drinkable but pretty boring overall. Has a bit of a funky aftertaste that was a little off putting.
12 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown/black with foamy tan head. Aroma was chocolate and malty. Taste was malty and mild sweetness.
Pours a caramel brown color with an off white head. Caramel, toffee, nut, earth, mild chocolate and biscuit aroma and flavors. Medium body an moderate carbonation. Nut, biscuit and caramel finish.
Bottle. Tastes like roasted malt, dark chocolate, earthy, and boozy. Light body and low carbonation. Smells like dark chocolate, earthy malt, booze.
6 oz from 12 oz bottle served in tulip glass. Beer is very dark amber in color. Short lived one finger head or so khaki in color. Some thinner lacing is left. Aroma is strong with Munich malts and a little chocolate. Taste is lightly sweet. Mostly light and malty with very light notes of caramel and chocolate. A light bodied beer with average carbonation. It could be a little richer in flavor and more robust. Over all this is an ok beer out of the winter variety pack. It is a very light porter and far from the best. I mostly like the name and label. Also a long running holiday classic from Samuel Adams.
Pours a ruby color. About two fingers khaki colored head. Some lacing, some retention. I’m not too impressed by the color, but the head is pretty nice.
Aroma is mild chocolate. Plenty of malts. I’m not sure if I’m smelling hops or coffee. This is very mild on the nose.
Taste is much of the same. It’s mostly sweet. There’s some mild chocolate. Mild coffee. Slight smokiness, or maybe charred malt. It’s mostly sweet, but slightly bitter at the end.
Mouthfeel is medium. It’s a little watery. It’s creamy, and slightly bitter at the end.
Overall, it’s okay. As far as porters go, this is decent, but not great. I’m a little disappointed. But otherwise, I’d suggest it for someone who isn’t familiar with porters.
Bottle. Pours a deep brown color with khaki head. Malty, roasty, slight burnt aromas. Roasty, nutty, malty, raisin flavors.
Bottle pour. Very dark brown with a decent creamy tan head. Aroma is chocolate, caramel, and nuts. Light creamy body. Slight bitter with a salty finish.
Apperance was clear reddish black with creamy off white diminishing 1 finger head, spotty lacing. Aromas are soft toffee pudding, nuts, chocolate and hints of coffee. Taste is nutty caramel upfront with hints of chocolate midsip. Roasted soft bite with coffee English sulfuric yeasty finish. Palate was soft creamy CO2 with light-medium body, lasting balanced slightly drying sulfuric finish. Overall a solid Porter, no Holiday spices note though.
It pours a dark brown with a light brown head. It has aromas of chocolate, some bread, nuts, and spices of which one is cinnamon. There is not a noticeable hop aroma. It has flavors of nuts that come out initially, then some roasted malts, chocolate, spices, and some grassy and floral hops. It is highly carbonated with a light moderate texture and fairly smooth on the way down. The finish is lightly bitter and semi dry.
Thick foamy pour and head remains in glass lacing nicely. Caramel roast not too sweet and not as bitter as you might expect from this brewer. A beautifuly satisfying porter / stout. Well done.
12oz bottle. Some holiday spice and malt nose. Nearly black appearance with thick creamy head and good lacing. Malty. Subtle spice. Decent body. Just above average.
Part of their Winter Classics pack purchased in Vegas. Pours a clean deep cooper colour with a beige head, average retention and nice lacing. Roasted malt aromas with a decent amount of hops. Hints of molasses. The taste is pretty much the roasted malts with hops, creating a nice dryness. Apple notes lingering. Not your spicy holiday porter, but a hoppy dark brew.
From a 12 oz bottle at the OBX. Pours a clear cola with a tan head. Malty nose. Flavors of dark fruits. Smooth rich finish.