Porter is a beer with a dark colour. It is an alternative name for stout, and the history and development of stout and porter are intertwined^[1]. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts. The name "stout" for a dark beer came about because a strong porter may be called "Extra Porter" or "Double Porter" or "Stout Porter". The term "Stout Porter" would later be shortened to just "Stout". For example, Guinness Extra Stout was originally called "Extra Superior Porter" and was only given the name Extra Stout in 1840.^[2] Alcohol by volume (ABV) is an indication of how much alcohol (expressed as a percentage) is included in an alcoholic beverage. ... Standard Reference Method or SRM is a system modern brewers use to measure color intensity or a beer. ... The International Bitterness Units scale, or simply IBU scale, provides a measure of the bitterness of beer, which is provided by the hops used during brewing. ... Original gravity (OG) usually refers to the density of wort, unfermented beer, usually expressed as a ratio to the density of water (thus for instance 1. ... Original gravity (OG) usually refers to the density of wort, unfermented beer, usually expressed as a ratio to the density of water (thus for instance 1. ... Leffe, a Belgian beer, served in branded glasses Schlenkerla Rauchbier straight from the cask Beer brewed from wheat. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... A porter carries objects. ... Malted barley Malting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate and then are quickly dried before the plant develops. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ...

The microbrew revival of the past twenty years has led to somewhat of a resurgence in the popularity of the style, with many new varieties available around the world. The style is particularly prominent and popular in the United States. Beer barrels outside the Castle Rock microbrewery in Nottingham, England. ...

History

In 1802, a writer named John Feltham wrote a version of the history of porter that has been used as the basis for most writings on the topic. Unfortunately, very little of Feltham's story is backed up by contemporary evidence. His account is based upon a letter written by Obadiah Poundage (who had worked for decades in the London brewing trade) in the 1760s. Unfortunately, Feltham badly misinterpreted parts of the text, mainly due to his unfamiliarity with 18th century brewing terminology. Feltham claimed that in 18th century London a popular beverage called "three threads" was made consisting of a third of a pint each of ale, beer and twopenny (the strongest beer, costing tuppence a quart). About 1730, Feltham said, a brewer called Harwood made a single beer called Entire which recreated the flavour of "three threads", and which became known as "porter". --69. ... Obadiah Poundage was a London brewer in the 1700s who published a letter in the London Chronicle on November 4th 1760 arguing for a rise in the price of beer. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The word drink is primarily a verb, meaning to ingest liquids, see Drinking. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Leffe, a Belgian beer, served in branded glasses Schlenkerla Rauchbier straight from the cask Beer brewed from wheat. ... twopence, also written as tuppence, is a British coin that worth two pennies. ... Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births April 16 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. ...

Porter is actually mentioned as early as 1721, but no writer before Feltham says it was made to replicate "three threads". Instead, it seems to be a more-aged development of the brown beers already being made in London. Before 1700, London brewers sent out their beer very young and any aging was either performed by the publican or a dealer. Porter was the first beer to be aged at the brewery and despatched in a condition fit to be drunk immediately. It was the first beer that could be made on any large scale, and the London porter brewers, such as Whitbread, Truman, Parsons and Thrale, achieved great success financially. // Events Pope Innocent XIII becomes pope Johann Sebastian Bach composes the Brandenburg Concertos April 4 - Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister of Britain September 10 - Treaty of Nystad is signed, bringing an end to the Great Northern War November 2 - Peter I is proclaimed Emperor of All the Russias... This article is about the Whitbread company. ... The surname Truman is usually English in origin. ... The name Parsons may refer to: Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the major engineering firms with worldwide presence Parsons, Kansas, a place in the United States of America Talcott Parsons, a social scientist Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in Washington. ...

Early London Porters were strong beers by modern standards. Early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770's recorded Porter as having an OG (original gravity) of 1071° and 6.6% ABV.^[3] Increased taxation during the Napoleonic War pushed its gravity down to around 1055°, where it remained for the rest of the 19th century. The huge popularity of the style prompted brewers to produce Porters in a wide variety of strengths. These started with Single Stout Porter at around 1066°, Double Stout Porter (such as Guinness) at 1072°, Triple Stout Porter at 1078° and Imperial Stout Porter at 1095° and more. As the 19th century progressed the Porter suffix was gradually dropped. British brewers, however, continued to use Porter as the generic term for both Porters and Stouts. Original gravity (OG) usually refers to the density of wort, unfermented beer, usually expressed as a ratio to the density of water (thus for instance 1. ... Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ... Imperial stout, also known as Russian Imperial Stout or Imperial Russian Stout, is a variety of ale that was originally brewed in England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia. ...

The large London Porter breweries pioneered many technological advances, such as the use of the thermometer (about 1760) and the hydrometer (1770). The use of the latter was to transform the nature of Porter. The first Porters were brewed from 100% Brown Malt. Now brewers were able to accurately measure the yield of the malt they used, it was noticed that Brown Malt, though cheaper than Pale Malt, only produced about two thirds as much fermentable material. When the malt tax was increased to help pay for the Napoleonic War, brewers had an incentive to use less malt. Their solution was to use a proportion of Pale Malt and add colouring to obtain the expected hue. When a law was passed in 1816 allowing only malt and hops to be used in the production of beer (a sort of British Reinheitsgebot) they were left in a quandary. Their problem was solved by Wheeler's invention of the almost black patent malt in 1817. It was now possible to brew Porter from 95% Pale Malt and 5% patent malt, though most London brewers continued to use some Brown Malt for flavour. It has been suggested that List of temperature sensors be merged into this article or section. ... A hydrometer is an instrument used for determining the specific gravity of liquids. ... The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. ... The Reinheitsgebot (literally purity requirement) is a regulation that originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria in 1516, concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer. ... In brewing, the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain is called mashing. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... In brewing, the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain is called mashing. ...

Until about 1800, all London Porter was matured in large vats (often holding several hundred barrels) for between six and eighteen months before being racked into smaller casks to be delivered to pubs. It was discovered that it was unnecessary to age all Porter. A small quantity of highly aged beer (18 months or more) mixed with fresh or "mild" Porter produced a flavour similar to that of aged beer. It was a cheaper method of producing Porter, as less beer needed to be stored for long periods. The normal blend was around two parts young beer to one part old.^[4]

After 1860, as the popularity of both Porter and the aged taste began to wane, Porter was increasingly sold "mild". In the final decades of the century many breweries discontinued their Porter, though continued to brew one or two stouts. Those which did still persist with Porter brewed it weaker and with fewer hops. Between 1860 and 1914 the gravity dropped from 1055° to 1040° and the hopping rate from two pounds to one pound per 36 gallon barrel. It was a mere shadow of the beer which had once been so respected and admired.

During the First World War in Britain, shortages of grain led to restrictions on the production of strong beer. Less strict rules were applied in Ireland allowing Irish brewers such as Guinness to take advantage and dominate the bottled Stout market. However, most English breweries continued to brew draught stouts until Second World War and beyond. They were considerably weaker than the pre-war versions (down from 1055º-1060° to 1040-1042°) and around the strength that Porter had been in 1914. Porter, with its strength slot now occupied by Single Stout, slowly withered away. The last English Porters were brewed around 1940. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Bart Sinnott of Dublin, whose father had three pubs in that city, always said that the name porter came from a mistake at a brewery in London where the malt was burned or partly burned and what came out after the brewing was finished was black. Unsure as to what to do the brewery gave this black beer to the porters who distributed the beer to the pubs to drink themselves as the brewery did not think that one could sell this mistake. The rest is history. A nice story, but certainly not true. Several other beer styles - Dortmunder Export, for example - have similar tales of "accidents" to explain their origin.

Porter in Ireland

Porter was first brewed in Ireland in 1776 as a reaction to the increasingly large imports of the beer from London. Guinness introduced theirs in 1778, and continued to brew ale as well until 1799. Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ...

In Ireland, especially Dublin, the drink was known as "plain porter" or just "plain". This is the drink referred to in the famous refrain of Flann O'Brien's poem "The Workman's Friend": "A pint of plain is your only man."^[5] It is also mentioned in the Saw Doctors song "Hay Wrap", where the protagonist claims "I'd kill for a pint of porter". By contrast, extra-strong porter was called Stout Porter and eventually became what is today stout. Dublin city centre at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Flann OBrien (October 5, 1911, Strabane, County Tyrone Ireland – April 1, 1966 Dublin) is a pseudonym of the twentieth century Irish novelist and satirist Brian ONolan (in Irish Brian Ó Nuallain), best known for his novels An Béal Bocht, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman. ... The Saw Doctors are a folk-rock band from Tuam, County Galway in Ireland. ... A pint of stout Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malts or roast barley. ...

The last Guinness Irish Porter was produced in 1974, though a beer named "Plain Porter" is still brewed by the Porterhouse microbrewery in Dublin. Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ... The T-bone is a steak cut of beef. ...

Stout grew into its own recognised style. but there is still much debate today on whether this division is appropriate. Usually the deciding factor in whether a particular ale is a porter or a stout is strength. After the invention of malted barley roasted until black, also known as patent malt, in 1817, to impart a darker colour, which also gives a distinct burnt taste to the beer, Irish brewers dropped the use of brown malt, using patent malt and pale malt only, while English brewers continued using some brown malt, giving a difference in style between English and Irish porters and stouts. Stouts sometimes also use roast barley, unmalted barley roasted black, that can impart a flavour of coffee. In brewing, the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain is called mashing. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... In brewing, the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain is called mashing. ... In brewing, the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain is called mashing. ... Binomial name L. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an annual cereal grain, which serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food. ... A cup of coffee. ...

Porter Elsewhere

Exports of Porter from Britain to the Baltic inspired brewers across the region to try making it themselves. Every country with a Baltic coastline continues to brew Porter today.

A version known as Baltic porter, is brewed in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. It has a higher alcohol content than ordinary porters. Baltic porter was introduced from Britain in the 18th century as a top-fermenting (ie: ale-style) beer; influenced by regional styles when it began to be produced locally, it is now mostly brewed as a lager-style bottom-fermenting beer. Many Baltic porters were also influenced by Russian Imperial Stout. A version of porter which is brewed in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. ... Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, slightly toxic chemical compound, and is best known as the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Imperial stout, also known as Russian Imperial Stout or Imperial Russian Stout, is a variety of ale that was originally brewed in England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia. ...

Pop Culture References

The Irish rock band, Flogging Molly, mentions porter in "Death Valley Queen" from the album, "Druken Lullabies." Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish American Irish punk band, that formed in Los Angeles and is currently signed under SideOneDummy Records. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=180680
2. ^ "Guinness’s Brewery in the Irish Economy 1759-1876", Patrick Lynch and John Vaizey, pages 150-151.
3. ^ “A History of Beer and Brewing” Ian S. Hornsey, 2003 p.436
4. ^ "The Brewer" by William Loftus, 1863 p.50
5. ^ At Swim-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien, ISBN 1-56478-181-X.

At Swim-Two-Birds is a novel by Irish novelist Flann OBrien (one pen-name of Brian ONolan) published in 1939. ...

External links

• CAMRA description of Porter and Stout
• The effect of WWI on the British brewing industry
• British brewing in the 18th and 19th centuries