The New York Times Takes on Porters

There is a bizarre article (hat tip: DF) on porters in the Times today. The writer, Eric Asimov, is the times drinks writer, and I suspect his palate is attuned to wine or liquor. With beers, it seems, he could do with a little remedial education. He starts out with a great historical introduction, but when he gets to the actual beers, I find I distrust his judgment:

Our No. 2 beer, Smoked Porter from Captain Lawrence, sounds like one of those brewing experiments, but the company, in Pleasantville, N.Y., insists that it is not.

Brewing experiment? And:

In the blind tasting, I was sure our No. 3 beer was American because of its powerful, assertive flavors of coffee, licorice and chocolate, but it turned out to be from Fuller’s, one of Britain’s leading breweries.

And I don't even know what to make of this:

By contrast, Mocha Porter from Rogue Ales in Newport, Ore., did not make the top 10 because the hop aromas drowned out everything else.

The Times offers ratings for beers, from 1-4, but none of the beers they tasted did better than a three-star ratiing. Geary's, their fave (and a fantastic beer), got three. It begs the question: what does it take to get a four-star rating? Being a nice chardonnay?

Makes me think I need to do a porter tasting right quick.