Try?
Let's face it: you just don't see a lot of microbrews in cans these days. Sure, a few intrepid brewers do offer their beer in aluminum instead of glass, but they're just a tiny percentage of the market. A lot of that has to do with perception over reality, of course, since cans do just as good a job at holding beers as bottles, and actually do a better job of blocking out harmful light.
Still, there's a stigma attached to cans, perhaps in part due to the cheap, adjunct-laden megabrews that sell mostly in aluminum containers. Beer has been sold in bottles a lot longer than it has in cans (and indeed, the first canned beers had conical tops just like bottles). So aren't bottles a better way t package beer? Butternuts will have none of that, and in fact doesn't bottle their beer.
Their mission: to sell tasty, highly drinkable, yet unpretentious craft beer to beer lovers everywhere. In cans.
Butternuts says about their beer:
Porkslap Pale Ale is brewed with 2 row North American barley and English crystal malt. The beer is flavored with crystal hop and a touch of fresh ginger to create a distinct flavor only a porkslapper can love. At 4.3% abv this beer is designed to have a good ale flavor and a crisp mild finish.
Porkslap Pale Ale pours to a dark orange color with a thick rocky head formation and an appetizing nose of citrus fruit and caramel. As I take a sip, I like the slightly creamy texture and slightly chewy caramel base of the beer. They form a decent enough base for a good pale ale, and a fair amount of herbal, slightly grassy hop aroma plays off against the malt rather nicely. In the finish, the hops become a bit more pronounced, depositing a long, dry bitterness that is noticeable but by no means overpowering. I'm not sure I pick up much of the ginger, unfortunately.
Overall, I find Butternuts Porkslap Pale Ale to be a good, drinkable pale ale. It's just not a great one, and doesn't really stand out from the pack. Still, the fact that it comes in cans does differentiate it a bit, and I've been known to crack one open and drink directly rather than pouring into a glass. In cases where cans are allowed but glass is not, Porkslap Pale Ale is a good option.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
