Cross Roads
English Porter
|3.8% ABV
Inspired by “Cross Road Blues” Cream/Robert Johnson
Our second cask offering is an English Porter. The story of porters started over 300 years ago in England; they were the first international style to be shipped to other continents and the first industrial style to be brewed on a large scale before steam power. This would lay out the groundwork for Macro breweries. Originally brewed with harsher brown malts and aged in casks, this gave the beer time to mellow out and become a nice dense, rich beer with a creamy mouthfeel. This beer would become the most popular style among the working class of London. Cross Roads has rich, malty characteristics from the roasted dark malts, which come across as roasted hazelnuts and creamy chocolate. A subtle toffee biscuit like sweetness, with a dry finish. If you find yourself at a cross road, try to hitch a ride to North Main and imbibe on this fresh real ale!
“CROSS ROAD BLUES”
Cream, Recorded at Winterland Live, 1968
Robert Johnson, Recorded at Gunter Hotel, 1936
Written and recorded by blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936, and has become shrouded in the mythology of Johnson, as the place where he sold his soul to the devil for his talents. The song masterfully shows his slide guitar work and some historians believe it had been part of Johnson’s repertoire since 1932. A master of the Delta Blues, who is considered to be one the greats, died at the age of 27 in 1938. His songs continue to be covered to this day. The English band Cream paid homage to the blues great in the late 1960s and would make it popular. Their blues rock interpretation would earn their version on the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll; and a place on the Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time in Rolling Stone. Considered one of the world’s first supergroups, they are highly regarded as each of their members were highly proficient instrumentalists, and they spanned multiple rock genres: blues, hard, psychedelic and acid rock. Their career together as a band was short lived, only two years, but would influence many artists to come after. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.