Thunder Power

One of the things that first drew me to Baltic porters was their ability to stand up to damned near anything I threw at them. Massive Cuban robusto? (don't ask where I got them; they were actually legal, on a technicality) Okocim Porter took it and smoothed and accentuated it. Fra Diavolo shrimp? My boy Dojlidy could smother that heat while still picking up and cradling the sweetness of the shwimps.

I know you're probably sick to death of hearing about Baltic Thunder, but hey, it's loose in the real world now: this isn't hype, it's after-action reports. Yesterday we were at a good friend's house to partake of a venison bounty his brother-in-law had brought home. He'd made a pork and venison stew, and a ground pork and venison meatloaf (he's Polish, I think he's got bigosh on the brain, but good on him, it was delicious).

And it just got better when I popped open the Thunder and sent it in after the game. Big flavor of venison, sweet flavor of pork, and multi-talented Baltic porter met and mingled, and I had a big happy mouth full of eats and drinks. Baltic porter, when it's the right one, is right up there with Belgian dubbel and Oktoberfest when it comes to making friends with food.