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 solution was to use a proportion of pale malt and add colouring to obtain the expected hue. When the malt tax was increased to help pay for the Napoleonic War, brewers had an incentive to use less malt. Now, brewers were able to accurately measure the yield of the malt they used, and noticed that brown malt, though cheaper than pale malt, only produced about two-thirds as much fermentable material. The first porters were brewed from 100% brown malt. The use of the latter transformed the nature of porter. The large London porter breweries pioneered many technological advances, such as the use of the thermometer (about 1760) and the hydrometer (1770). As the 19th century progressed, the porter suffix was gradually dropped. These started with Single Stout Porter around 1.066, Double Stout Porter (such as Guinness) at 1.072, Triple Stout Porter at 1.078 and Imperial Stout Porter at 1.095 and more. The popularity of the style prompted brewers to produce porters in a wide variety of strengths. Increased taxation during the Napoleonic Wars pushed its gravity down to around 1.055, where it remained for the rest of the 19th century. Early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770s recorded porter as having an original gravity (OG) of 1.071 and 6.6% alcohol by volume (ABV). Įarly London porters were strong beers by modern standards. It was also a style that could be made on a large scale, and the London porter brewers, such as Whitbread, Truman, Parsons and Thrale, achieved economies of scale, and financial success. Porter was the one of the first beer styles to be aged at the brewery and dispatched in a condition fit to be drunk immediately. īefore 1700, London brewers sent out their beer very young, as Milds any ageing into Stale styles, was either performed by the publican or a dealer, with blends of Milds and Stales often sold to the public. The innovation is attributed to Ralph Harwood, a brewer at the Bell Brewhouse in Shoreditch. Porter was first mentioned in 1721, as a development of the brown beer already being produced across London, and delivered to publicans to age and blend to their customers tastes. 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. Guinness Extra Stout was originally called "Extra Superior Porter" and was not given the name "Extra Stout" until 1840. The name "stout", used for a dark beer, came about because strong porters were marketed as "stout porter", later being shortened to just stout. The history of stout and porter are intertwined. It became the first beer style to be brewed around the world, and production had commenced in Ireland, North America, Sweden, and Russia by the end of the 18th century. The popularity of porter was significant. The name is believed to have originated from its popularity with working class people and porters. It was well- hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt. Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England in the early 18th century. A glass of Rugporter, showing characteristic dark body
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