Four days ago @trumpman started the 7 day beer challenge. I was nominated today by @abigail-dantes and I couldn't be more excited to participate!

This the perfect time for a beer challenge as I just moved to Upstate New York and there are a ton of new breweries to try. I know a lot of people scoff at beer in the US, but the craft beer scene is rapidly growing all across the country. Most cities have multiple small local breweries these days and they're all experimenting with different ways to make beer. Although they're not all perfect, the competition means that tons of varieties are available and the overall quality is quite high.

The only US beer I'm not going to defend is that produced by the large commercial breweries. Budweiser, Coors, and all those other cheap beers aren't always terrible, but they're boring and devoid of flavor. Thus, this challenge will attempt to capture some of the interesting variety you can find in america's smaller breweries.

Today's beer is Half Baked, a Porter produced by Ellicottville Brewing Co.

Its described as an "Earthy, deep and dark, brewed with dark chocolate and roasted peanuts." Because of the make up, its described as a peanut butter porter and the label makes me think of fresh baked cookies.

Porters and stouts are typically dark beers with a full bodied flavor and minimal bitterness. Its often a great type of beer for a drinking neophyte because it doesn't have much hop flavor that can turn new drinkers off. In this case, they're also infused with some other earthy flavors to make things more complex. I'm not always a fan of throwing chocolate, peanuts, and whatever else has a dark flavor into beer because this is often overused. However, Ellicotville Brewing Company has a decent reputation in the Northeast United States so I was willing to give this a shot.

The company has a ton of unusual beers that can be found on its website: https://ellicottvillebrewing.com/beer/

Review

My wife's favorite types of beer are porters and stouts so we were both very excited to try this.

It poured with minimal carbonation (not too unexpected for a porter). Its supposed to have a toasted aroma, but I didn't notice much of a smell. My first impression when I drank the beer was that it had a ton of flavor, like overloaded with deep dark flavor. Oddly enough, I couldn't tell you whether that flavor included any chocolate or peanuts even though the bottle says I should be tasting it. Still, the flavor was very complex and very good. Its the kind of beer where you can drink one and be completely satisfied flavor wise when you're done. My wife had a slightly less rosy opinion: "It wasn't peanut buttery or chocolaty enough. It was alright, but I wanted it to be an indulgence."

At 7% alcohol this packs a bit more of a punch than your typical beer so that's good or bad depending on what time of night it is. Its also $2.50 a bottle so pretty pricey. Overall, I'd recommend trying it if you see it at the store, but maybe considering some of the other Ellicottville beers if they're available.

I'll nominate @docboctopus today. He's a fellow scientist I've been hoping to get onto Steemit and I know he likes beer. Hopefully this spurs him to join.

Thanks for reading to the end. Here is a pic of my dog!

These are the rules to be taken into account:

• You have to try a new beer every day, for 7 days
• The beer must be something you have never tasted before
• You must put a photo of the beer and write a few words about it
• Nominate someone every day
• If you are a social outcast with no friends to invite you just join the fun. You have every excuse to drink!
• Use the tag "#sevendaybeerchallenge" as one of your five tags.