Porter (beer)

For other uses, see Porter (disambiguation).

A glass of porter, showing characteristic dark body

Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England, in the early 18th century.[1][2] It is well-hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt.[3] The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with porters.[4]

Porter became the first beer style brewed around the world, being produced in Ireland, North America, Sweden, and Russia by the end of the 18th century.[1]

The history of stout and porter are intertwined.[5] The name "stout", used for a dark beer, came about because strong porters were marketed as "stout porter", later being shortened to just stout. Guinness Extra Stout was originally called "Extra Superior Porter" and was not given the name "Extra Stout" until 1840.[6] Today, the terms stout and porter are used by different breweries almost interchangeably to describe dark beers, and have more in common than in distinction.[7]

  1. ^ a b Cornell, Martyn (2 March 2020). The Geography of Beer. Springer Nature. p. 7. ISBN 978-3-030-41654-6.
  2. ^ Amber, Gold & Black; Cornell, Martyn; The History Press UK, 2010, p. 54.
  3. ^ Dornbusch, Horst, and Garrett Oliver. "Porter." The Oxford Companion to Beer. Ed. Garrett Oliver. 2012.
  4. ^ "The Picture of London", John Feltham, 1802, p. 26, states it "obtained the name porter" because it was "very suitable for porters and other working people".
  5. ^ "Porter and Stout". CAMRA. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  6. ^ Lynch, Patrick and John Vaizey. Guinness's Brewery in the Irish Economy 1759–1876, pp. 150–151.
  7. ^ Johnston, Zach (28 March 2018). "Picking Apart The Minute Differences Between Porter And Stout". Uproxx. Retrieved 21 January 2020.