by Matt Dailey
20. June 2010 03:10
Admittedly, porters are not my strongest subject. I know I like them, but what makes them so different from a stout? Or what makes them so different from amber ales? With my ignorance in hand, I chose ‘Porters’ as the subject of this month’s Beer 101.
Porters are said to have been a favorite beer of English transportation workers, which is its namesake. Traditionally, porters were made from a blend of old ales, pale or brown ales, and weak ales. This blend was the perfect marriage of strong (old ale), light (pale ale), and mild (weak ale). By blending the different types of beer, porters became the first ‘customizable’ beers that were made to fit specific tastes, and allowed for a very consistent product.
Modern-day porters are typically brewed using a pale malt base with the addition of black malt, crystal, chocolate or smoked brown malt. They contain light to moderate hop levels and the color ranges from brown to black. Overall, porters are very complex and interesting.
A porter that is labeled “Baltic Porter” indicates that the porter is usually higher than 7% alcohol by volume. This term came to be because traditionally porters were not very high in alcohol, but during the 1700s in order to ship the beer across the Baltic Sea, brewers would have to increase the alcohol in the beer to preserve its shelf-life.
American-style porters are based on the traditional English porters, but they have been tinkered with a little. Breweries can increase the hop level of the beer, use smoked malts, add coffee or chocolate for flavor, or even barrel-age their porters in bourbon or whiskey casks.
There are a multitude of porters available on the market today. Try some of these tasty porters to get a good idea of what they have to offer.
Rogue ‘Mocha’ Porter
Ruddy brown in color, a bittersweet balance of malt and hops with a light cream finish.
Bell’s Porter
Very rich and chocolatey porter.
Tyranena Chief Black Hawk Porter
Robust black and sharply bittersweet ale.
Founders Porter
Chocolate malts and four varieties of hops make this a very full flavored ale.
Stone Smoked Porter
Smooth, with chocolate and coffee-like flavors balanced by the subtle "smoky" character of just the right amount of peat-smoked specialty malt.
Nogne-O Porter
In this quite dark ale, dark malts provide flavors of coffee and dried fruit.
