Meer over Porter
Which porter are you looking for?
- English or brown porter: medium-bodied and restrained, with bread, biscuit and toast, mild chocolate and often caramel or toffee. According to the BJCP 4.0–5.4%, with a fairly dry to slightly sweet finish.
- American or robust porter: stronger and more bitter, more roasted and sometimes clearly hoppy, leaning towards resin, earth or flowers. According to the BJCP 4.8–6.5%.
- Baltic porter: malty, with plum, raisin, caramel and liquorice, and according to the BJCP usually 7–8.5%. The alcohol is deceptively well hidden. More in the Beer School on Baltic porter.
- Imperial porter: an American, black porter of 7–12% (Brewers Association), with a full body and notes of cocoa and caramel.
Blacker and more roasted: stout. Even heavier: imperial stout.
Porter or stout?
Historically, stout was simply a stronger porter: 'stout' meant 'strong'. At Whitbread in London, porter and stout were made in 1805 and 1844 from (almost) the same ingredients; the difference was in the amount of water, and so in the strength. The style guides now draw a line, porter brown and stout black, but in practice they largely overlap. Porter is also not a fixed recipe: through black malt (1817), wars and taxes it changed character time and again.
What you'll find at Hoptimaal
A small, changing selection. Here you'll find Põhjala and Pühaste from Estonia, Samuel Smith from England, Whiplash from Ireland and Het Platte Harnas from the Netherlands, among others. If you want more choice in dark beer, also have a look at stout, imperial stout and barrel aged. For every beer you can see the current Untappd score.
Serving
A good starting point is 10–13 °C in an English pint glass. A Baltic porter can be a bit colder, around 7–10 °C (CraftBeer.com of the Brewers Association).
Buy porter at Hoptimaal
You can buy porter beer at Hoptimaal online or in our shop at Leeghwater 5 in Amersfoort. You order per piece. Order before 3 pm on working days and we ship the same day. Shipping within the Netherlands is free from €75.
Tip: read the word before 'porter' on the label. 'Baltic' points to a strong porter of usually 7–8.5% (BJCP), nowadays generally made with lager yeast; 'imperial' goes up to 12% according to the Brewers Association. Without a qualifier you're usually around 4–6.5%.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Baltic porter a lager?
Usually, yes. According to the BJCP it is nowadays generally fermented cold with lager yeast and then lagered, and the Brewers Association places it among the European lager styles. It used to be top-fermented; many brewers later switched to bottom-fermenting yeast.
Is porter lighter than stout?
Not necessarily. According to the BJCP, an English porter is 4.0–5.4% and an Irish stout 3.8–5%. A Baltic porter or an imperial porter is in fact stronger than many stouts.
Why is it called porter?
Because porters drank it, contemporaries were already writing in the 18th century. It was mainly about the thousands of men who loaded and unloaded ships on the Thames and carried goods through London. The name has nothing to do with the Dutch word 'poorter'. More in the Beer School on porter.
