Keighley Beer Festival 2011 Porter Potter
At Keighley Beer Festival 2011 we are promoting Porters, a classic British Beer style, which although still difficult to find, has undergone a resurgence in recent years. Around 10 porters will be available, and a ‘Potter’ has been organised to encourage you to try some of them. There will also be a Porter competition, details of which will be in the festival programme.
How to do the Porter Potter
To spot the porters look for the porter symbol in the beer list in the programme or look for the pink ‘cask-end’ labels on the bar.
- Try a third- or half-pint of five different porters.
- Collect a sticker for each one and place it on the grid in your programme.
- Claim your free porter.
- Take your completed grid to the Products and Membership stand to enter the draw for a prize.
What is a Porter?
History of the Porter
Porter, as a beer, has a very interesting history and a fair amount of disagreement on what it is and should be. Originally, a “porter” was not a single beer at all but a combination of beers mixed together based on customer requests, also known as “three threads”. The British have a custom of mixing cheaper and lighter beers with heavier more expensive aged beers (e.g. a black and tan). The combining of these beers would create what was called an “entire beer”.
Apparently, there was a particular combination that was popular with the porters of East London in the 18th century. These porters were rumoured to make a meal out of this heavier darker beer (sounds like a good lunch hour to me). Eventually, in 1722, a brewer named Harwood brewed a beer based on this combination. It was heavily advertised as richer and more “nourishing” than a regular ale, which spoke to porters on lunch break. Thus porter was officially born.
Tasting Notes
In general, porter is a top-fermented beer that uses black or chocolate malts to create a beer that ranges in colour from deep ruby red or dark brown to almost black.
The taste of a porter should be spicy, chocolaty and have a distinctive dark malt or roasted grain flavour, with a slight sweetness. They also tend to be well hopped and the hoppiness can range from bitter to mild.
Often compared to, or confused with Stouts, porters tend to have a lower alcohol content, lighter body and malt character, and a slightly sweeter taste… and they were here first. The stout actually gets its name from a porter. The name “stout” for a very dark beer seems to have come about from the name for a strong porter – “extra porter” or “stout porter”. The name would eventually be shortened to just stout.
