That’s one of the many wonderful things about beer. It’s not just a drink for summer time – there’s a beer for every season.

And when it gets cooler, porters and stouts are among the best styles you can drink.

Guinness Draught tends to be the most well-known example of this style – though people are surprised it’s lower in alcohol than VB.

Yep, that Guinness in cans is 4.1 per cent, compared to VB’s 4.9 per cent.

The takeway from this is – just because a beer is darker doesn’t mean it’s stronger.

That said, a Guinness limited release – for Australia anyway – does clock up a few extra alcohol points.

The Guinness West Indies Porter runs to 6 per cent and there’s just 9,600 bottles in Australia – exclusively available at Dan Murphy’s.

Should you rush to get some today so you don't miss out? Probably not – it was released last month and I’m still seeing heaps of bottles at my local Dan’s.

And almost 10,000 bottles is actually quite a lot when you’re talking 500ml bottles.

If I was forced to choose between this and the standard Guinness, the West Indies Porter would win hands-down.

It kills the draught stone-cold dead.

There’s a whole lot more interesting stuff going on with the West Indies porter

The aroma throws some coffee and caramel notes, while the flavours are plentiful.

It starts out with some caramel before moving to a bit of coffee and then licorice characters and right at the end there’s a lick of chocolate.

That’s a lot going on – but it works. And it makes for a tasty beer. 

Glen Humphries is the 2016 AIBA Australian Beer Writer of the Year and author of The Slab.