A moderate-strength English dark ale — brown to dark brown, with gentle chocolate, caramel, and light roasted malt character, but softer and less roasty than a stout. Typically 4.5–6% ABV with modest bitterness. The traditional porter in its ‘brown’ (less roasty) form, as distinguished from the more aggressive Robust Porter.
In the glass
Origin
Porter emerged in early-18th-century London as a variant of the “brown beer” then widely brewed in the city. The name attached itself to the style because it became a favorite of London’s hard-working porters — strongmen for hire who carried goods from merchant storehouses to the city’s markets. By the end of the 18th century porter had become big business, reaching its London peak in the 1820s as arguably the first mass-produced commercial beer. The introduction of Daniel Wheeler’s black patent malt in 1817 transformed the grist, and stronger “stout porters” began to split off as a separate style over the 19th century. Porter’s reign ended by the 1870s as pale ales took over the top of the market and stouts absorbed the darker, stronger end; Whitbread’s Chiswell Street Brewery brewed its last batch of porter on September 9, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, and the style had largely faded in the UK by the 1950s. Brown Porter is the milder, less-roasted end of the revived tradition — the historical English porter profile, rather than the bigger American craft-era interpretation.
Notes
The 2021 Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines merge the Brewers Association’s Brown Porter and some Robust Porter territory into a single “English Porter” (13C). The Brewers Association guidelines maintain the distinction.
Defining examples
Fuller’s London Porter·Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter·Meantime London Porter·Anchor Porter