The 8 Best Baltic Porters of 2022

Post By

Team Untappd

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 15:00:06 +0000

Originating in 18th century London, porters take their name from the London working class that first enjoyed them: boatmen, punters, and porters. Essentially, after a long day of backbreaking work loading and unloading docked ships, these porters would head to the local pub for some refreshment.

The original porters were darker, richer versions of the English mild, brown ale.

Baltic porters evolved out of these OG porters from the Baltic region (surprise, surprise!). Composed of three countries, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Baltic countries put their own spin on the traditional English porter.

What sets Baltic porters apart from their British brethren?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these Baltic breweries used ingredients indigneous to them—continental malt and hops replaced British ones. And most importantly, a bottom-fermenting lager yeast replaced an English ale yeast.

Whereas British yeast tends to be fruitier, lager yeast is crisper and cleaner, meaning that Baltic porters tend to lean closer to a schwarzbier than a true-to-tradition porter.

Pouring out a dark brown, but not jet black color, Baltic porters give off aromas of "complex malty sweetness made up of some mix of caramel, nutty, toffee, deep toast, and licorice," according to BJCP Guidelines.

Flavor-wise, the maltiness carries through into the sip with a smooth roastiness and touch of dried fruit, caramel, toffee, and molasses-like notes.

Basically, Baltic porters have the look and feel of a brown porter, but with the crisp roasted notes of a schwarzbier, and a bigger body and ABV like a stout.

Sounds pretty delicious to us!

And while catching a Baltic porter out in the wild can be pretty rare, there are still a handful of craft brewers around the world trying their hand at this interesting, complex style.