Porter is a type of ale which has a malting aroma and hop bitterness. It is generally strong and dark and brewed with soft rather than hard water.

In 18th century London a beverage was made consisting of a third of a pint of ale, beer and twopenny (the strongest beer, costing tuppence a quart). Harwood, a brewer, brewed a beer called Entire which blended all three in about 1720. It is possible that this became known as Porter due to its popularity with 18th Century London porters, although this may just be a romantic story.

What is certain is that the price of malt had increased substantially, and that this influenced brewers to roast the malt more and add more hops to increase the flavour. Perhaps this is the real origin of Porter.

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 and eventually became what is today stout.

During the first world war in Britain, shortages of coal led to restrictions on the production of dark malt and hence stout and porter. This allowed Irish brewers such as Guinness to fill the market need and gain market dominance, a position that they continue to enjoy to this day.

A version known as Baltic porter is brewed in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. It has a higher alcohol content than ordinary porters. It was influenced by Russian Imperial Stout and folk beer styles in the region.

The microbrew revival of the last twenty years has led to somewhat of a resurgence in the popularity of the style, with many new varieties available around the world.

Notable Porters

• Bell's Porter from Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery
• Blackhook Porter from Redhook Brewery
• Burton Porter
• Catamount Porter from Harpoon Brewery
• Flag Porter
• Hoepfner Porter, the only one brewed in Germany from Privatbrauerei Hoepfner
• Koff Porter from Sinebrychoff
• Mocha Porter from Rogue Brewery
• Perkuno's Hammer (Baltic-style Porter) from Heavyweight Brewing in the US
• Piston Porter Oakleaf Brewery
• Saku Porter
• Sierra Nevada Porter from California
• Taddy (Tadcaster) Porter from Samuel Smith's Old Brewery, although the same beer is marketed as a stout in the United Kingdom
• Utenos Porteris from Utenos alus, Utena, Lithuania
• Zywiec Porter from south of Poland [1]
• Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from The Great Lakes Brewing Company [2]