Porter (beer)

Porter is a dark style of beer developed in London from well-hopped beers made from brown malt. The name was first recorded in the 18th century, and is thought to come from its popularity with street and river porters.

The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name "stout" as used for a dark beer is believed to have come about because strong porters were marketed under such names as "Extra Porter", "Double Porter", and "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.

In 1802 John Feltham wrote a version of the history of porter that has been used as the basis for most writings on the topic. Very little of Feltham's story is backed up by contemporary evidence; his account is based on a letter written by Obadiah Poundage (who had worked for decades in the London brewing trade) in the 1760s. 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 two pence a quart). About 1730, Feltham said, a brewer called Harwood made a single beer called Entire or Entire butt, which recreated the flavour of "three threads" and became known as "porter".

Porter is 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 ageing was either performed by the publican or a dealer. Porter was the first beer to be aged at the brewery and dispatched 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.

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