Porter ale

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About Porter ale
Wikipedia Article About Porter ale on Wikipedia

A heavy, dark-brown, strongly flavored beer. The dark color and strong flavor come from the addition of roasted Malt. Porters are usually higher in alcohol than regular Lager beers.

Porter is a style of beer in the ale family - developed in the 18th century which has a dark colour, originally from the use of highly dried brown malt, a roast malt aroma and hop bitterness. It is generally brewed with soft rather than hard water.

In 1802, a writer named John Feltham wrote a version of the history of porter that has been repeated hundreds of times since. Unfortunately very little of Feltham's story is backed up by contemporary evidence. 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 which became known as "porter". It took its name from its popularity with the thousands of street and river porters (NOT market porters) of London, who drank it to refresh themselves as they carried goods and parcels off and on ships in the Thames and around the streets of England's capital.

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. It was the first beer that could be made on any big scale, and the London porter brewers, such as Whitbread, Truman, Parsons and Thrale, became rich and famous.