The Edmund Fitzgerald is a legend in the Great Lakes region. The sinking of the vessel was immortalized in song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, by Gordon Lightfoot. The disaster is still commemorated to this day, with a bell being rung 29 times (for each life that was lost) every year on the anniversary of the wreck.
The folks at Great Lakes Brewing were thus putting some heady history into the naming of their porter. Thankfully, they succeeded with flying colors.
Edmund Fitzgerald Porter by Great Lakes Brewing Company (located in Cleveland, Ohio) is brewed in compliance with the Bavarian Purity Laws. It uses only barley, hops, yeast, and water.
On a pour, you find a rich black, creamy head. The creaminess also comes through in the texture when you drink. For a porter, it is not too heavy or bitter. There’s more chocolate than coffee in the aroma and taste. And there’s a slight sweetness to the whole affair (in fact, the label calls the beer a ‘complex porter with bittersweet taste’). We couldn’t agree more.
The Edmund Fitzgerald Porter is a remarkably smooth, well-rounded and tasty beer to drink. Fans of porters will enjoy it tremendously, while people who aren’t so thrilled with darker beers won’t find it too overwhelming.