Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts. The name "stout" for a dark beer is believed to have come about because a strong porter may be called "Extra Porter" or "Double Porter" or "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.

History

Early

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

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

Early London porters were strong beers by modern standards. Early trials with the hydrometer in the 1770s recorded porter as having an OG (original gravity) of 1.071° and 6.6% ABV. Increased taxation during the Napoleonic Wars pushed its gravity down to around 1.055°, where it remained for the rest of the 19th century. The huge popularity of the style prompted brewers to produce porters in a wide variety of strengths. These started with Single Stout Porter at 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. As the 19th century progressed the porter suffix was gradually dropped. British brewers, however, continued to use porter as the generic term for both porters and stouts.

The large London porter breweries pioneered many technological advances, such as the use of the thermometer (about 1760) and the hydrometer (1770). The use of the latter was to transform the nature of porter. The first porters were brewed from 100% brown malt. Now brewers were able to accurately measure the yield of the malt they used, and it was noticed that brown malt, though cheaper than pale malt, only produced about two thirds as much fermentable material. When the malt tax was increased to help pay for the Napoleonic War, brewers had an incentive to use less malt. Their solution was to use a proportion of pale malt and add colouring to obtain the expected hue. 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 problem was solved by Wheeler's invention of the almost black patent malt in 1817. It was now possible to brew porter from 95% pale malt and 5% patent malt, though most London brewers continued to use some brown malt for flavour.

Until about 1800, all London porter was matured in large vats, often holding several hundred barrels, for between six and eighteen months before being racked into smaller casks to be delivered to pubs. It was discovered that it was unnecessary to age all porter. A small quantity of highly aged beer (18 months or more) mixed with fresh or "mild" porter produced a flavour similar to that of aged beer. It was a cheaper method of producing porter, as it required less beer to be stored for long periods. The normal blend was around two parts young beer to one part old.

After 1860, as the popularity of porter and the aged taste began to wane, porter was increasingly sold "mild". In the final decades of the century, many breweries discontinued their porter, though continued to brew one or two stouts. Those that persisted with porter, brewed it weaker and with fewer hops. Between 1860 and 1914, the gravity dropped from 1.058° to 1.050° and the hopping rate from two pounds to one pound per 36 gallon barrel.

Today

Many breweries brew porters in wide varieties, including, but not limited to, pumpkin, honey, vanilla, chocolate and bourbon. Specialized porter brews continue the tradition of aging in barrels, and the use of bourbon barrels is not uncommon.

In addition, Okells on the Isle Of Man utilise peated malt made from selected barley that uses burning peat during the malting process.

Porter in Ireland

Porter was first brewed in Ireland in 1776 as a reaction to the increasingly large imports of the beer from London. Guinness introduced theirs in 1778, and continued to brew ale as well until 1799.

In Ireland, especially Dublin, the drink was known as "plain porter" or just "plain". This is the drink referred to in the famous refrain of Flann O'Brien's poem "The Workman's Friend": "A pint of plain is your only man." By contrast, extra-strong porter was called Stout Porter. The last Guinness Irish porter was produced in 1974.

After the invention of malted barley roasted until black to impart a darker colour and distinct burnt taste to the beer in 1817, Irish brewers dropped the use of brown malt, using patent malt and pale malt only, while English brewers continued using some brown malt, giving a difference in style between English and Irish porters.

Porter elsewhere

Exports of porter from Britain to the Baltic inspired brewers across the region to try making it themselves. Every country with a Baltic coastline continues to brew porter today.

A version known as "Baltic porter" is brewed in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark and Sweden. It has a higher alcohol content than ordinary porters. Baltic porter was introduced from Britain in the 18th century as a top-fermenting beer and remained so when local breweries, such as Carnegie in Sweden, began to produce it in the early 19th century. When breweries around the Baltic converted to bottom-fermentation in the second half of the 19th century, many began to brew their porter with a lager yeast. Today only a few remain top-fermented.

In Germany, Baltic porter was brewed from the mid-19th century to German reunification. In 1990, all German porter producing breweries were in former East Germany, and none survived the transition to a market economy. Beginning in the late 1990s, a moderate renaissance of imported porter beers in Germany led to the re-launch of Baltic porters by several German breweries. Some breweries also started to produce British-style porters. However, porter always was and still is a niche product in Germany.

Porter was initially imported to the American colonies, but by the 18th century it was being commercially brewed, especially in New England and Pennsylvania. Because of high costs of importing barley, adjuncts were often employed including sugar, molasses, corn and licorice. As a result, American porter differed from the English and Irish versions. Philadelphia grew into a major beer brewing centre through the early 20th century. After the introduction of lagers in the United States in the 1850s, breweries began experimenting by brewing their porters with lager yeast rather than traditional top-fermenting yeast. Today, only Stegmaier and Yuengling continue to commercially produce “Pennsylvania porter”, as it became known. In the 1970s and 1980s, craft brewers in the United States reintroduced American porter. Breweries such as Anchor of San Francisco and Sierra Nevada of Chico, California were catalysts.

References

Category:Beer and breweries in the United Kingdom Category:Beer styles Category:Brewing in London

Coordinates	38°53′51.61″N77°2′11.58″N
Name	Taddy Porter
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Genre	Hard rock
Years active	2007–present
Label	Primary Wave Music
Url	http://taddyporter.com/
Current members	Andy BrewerJoe SelbyDoug JonesKevin Jones

Taddy Porter (Band) is an American rock band formed in 2007 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The band members are Andy Brewer (lead vocal/guitar), Joe Selby (lead guitar/backing vocals), Doug Jones (drums), and Kevin Jones (bass). The band describes their sound as a mix of classic rock and blues in a modern-rock setting.

History

Taddy Porter was initially envisioned as the duo of Brewer and Doug Jones, but after taking guitar lessons from Selby, Brewer decided to bring him on as lead guitarist and the three invited Jones' brother, Kevin, to fill out the quartet. The name of the band was chosen after Andy noticed it on a bar beer list and believed it fit the band. The band originally began building their act at Dirty's Tavern, a local bar in their hometown of Stillwater.

In December 2007 they recorded a 4-track EP, Monocle, produced by Trent Bell at Bell Labs Recording Studio in Norman, Oklahoma.

In late 2009 Scott Frazier of Overtone Music Group was sent to Oklahoma City to see another band. Taddy Porter approached him and asked him if he would watch their support set. Frazier was so impressed he signed them to a management contract within a few days.

Frazier's partner, Rick Smith had this assessment of the band, “This band is going to be the biggest one in my 35 years of doing this. This is truly something special. This is Paul Rodgers 1969, if Free came from Stillwater, Okla., or if Joe Cocker had a baby with Robert Plant, it would be Andy Brewer. All the successful great rock bands of the last 30 years have had that dual focus — whether it’s starting with Jagger and Richards, or Lennon and McCartney or Tyler and Perry or Axl and Slash. You have to have the two front guys in Andy and Joe. Joe will be one of the quintessential guitar players of his generation. This is a band that only comes around like once in a generation. They’re that special.”

The band was signed to a record deal with independent label Primary Wave Records, which not only allows the band to retain the rights to its songs, but also includes distribution through EMI records.

The band was also placed as the "freshman" act on The Class Of 2009 Tour with Red, Pop Evil and Saving Abel. The "Class Of" tours was the collective brainchild of Scott Frazier, Rick Smith and Larry Mestel of Primary Wave Music Management along with Justin Hirschman from Artist Group International. The concept is to bring together rock artists who have had substantial Top Ten hits at radio in the current year as well as one act who is provided an opportunity to launch its act. The 2009 tour took place from October 27 through December 19, 2009.

The band's debut single "Shake Me" was featured on Monday Night Football on December 21, 2009. It was also used in episode 24 of the ABC sitcom Cougar Town on May 24, 2010 (previously "In The Morning" had been used in episodes 18 and 21.) "Shake Me" was also featured in the NBC show Chase.

During the 2010 Major League Baseball season "Shake Me" has been used by New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey while warming up and also when batting at Citi Field. "I was looking for a warm-up song and I decided to go with 'Shake Me' by a killer new band named Taddy Porter. It sounds huge in Citifield and it has been working out great," says Pelfrey. Pelfrey's pitching coach at Double A Binghamton in 2006 was Mark Brewer, Andy's father. (Andy's grandfather was Jim Brewer, a relief pitcher who spent 17 years in the major leagues.)

The band had two songs ("King Louie" and "Mean Bitch") featured in the seventh season premiere of Entourage on HBO June 27, 2010, and two songs ("Railroad Queen" and "King Louie") can be heard in the upcoming John Cena movie "Legendary".

On July 27, 2010 it was announced that Taddy Porter would tour with Slash and Myles Kennedy for eight dates in September 2010.

In the Autumn 2010, the band will be touring with Canadian band Finger Eleven on select tour dates, as well as with Evans Blue. They will also open for Alter Bridge on select dates in the United States.

Discography

Albums

Monocle (EP) (2007)

Taddy Porter (2010)

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Category:American rock music groups Category:Musical groups from Oklahoma