Fulton Beer - Proper Porter

Originally brewed in partnership with Minneapolis' annual Holidazzle festival, Proper Porter was such a hit it's become a year-round offering. Pouring a deep, deep garnet red, capped by a khaki head, it's an attractive brew in the glass. On the nose, we picked up notes of bread crust and brown bread, prominent toffee with hints of chocolate, and just a touch of earthy hops. On the palate, this brew's flavor profile truly shines and expands. Look for toasty and light roasted notes that eschew the strong char character of some other porters. Intriguing dark and dried fruit character emerges, reminiscent of raisins, figs, and dates. There's a noticeable level of residual sweetness here, which augments those fruity, toffee, and chocolate notes without straying into cloying territory or coming across overly heavy. The hop bitterness comes through as moderate, doing a nice job of providing a counterpoint to the malts, keeping this brew balanced and well-structured while lending a touch of woody, earthy spice. For pairing options, we'd steer toward grilled or roasted meats, especially with a fruity accompaniment, such as pan-roasted beef tenderloin with a raspberry sauce. Desserts with caramel and chocolate are a natural fit, too. Cheers!

The story of Fulton Beer begins in 2006 with the four folks behind Fulton Beer—Ryan Petz, Brian Hoffman, Peter Grande, and Jim Diley—starting to homebrew together in Jim’s piddly (and cold) one-car garage. Rest assured, Minnesota gets cold. But that homebrewing inlet, like so many unexpected and fiscally questionable paths into professional brewing, led them, in 2009, to start Fulton Beer together. As the story goes: Ryan and Jim were in debt from grad school, Pete and his wife were expecting, everyone else was newly or about to get married... The four had no savings, no cache of brewing connections, and no real industry experience. The circumstances, in other words, were perfect.

In the time since, we’ve been able to watch Fulton Beer grow from a small, contracting brewery into something much more established—and all in spite of the less-than-super-great chances for the whole endeavor. The first keg of Fulton Beer was served at The Happy Gnome out in St. Paul; this was back in late October of 2009. The intrepid four signed a lease for their first brewery in September 2010, which became the first brewery taproom in the Twin Cities. And, having quickly exhausted that production space, they began building a second brewery in late 2013.

Today, the majority of Fulton Beer’s production takes place at their second location: a 51,000-square-foot facility in northeast Minneapolis, about five minutes from their original spot. Today, they brew about a half dozen year-round brews in addition to a wide array of limited "Garage Series" brews, barrel-aged beers, and sour mixed culture beers, plus a line of increasingly popular hard seltzers. To learn more, ring 'em at 612-333-3208 or visit /www.fultonbeer.com.