Lesser known among these imperialized brews are the Baltic porters. Fortified porter rode along with its more famous, formidable sibling, stout, into Scandinavia, Russia and Eastern Europe. The increased strength and soothing dark malt was a perfect match for the northern climate, serendipitously popularizing porter and creating a future local market. Baltic porter then evolved further, leaving its British ale roots behind in many cases, as Baltic brewers made their own versions using the prevailing bottom-fermentation and lagering methods. The expatriated brews were still dark and strong, but often came to resemble the strong lagerbiers of Germany.

Baltic porter is undergoing something of a rebirth today, as there is a trend to imperialize many beer styles. Some are brewed to approximate the original British ales, while others are true to the Baltic lager construct.

Publican Porter

Along with the isolation and characterization of yeast, the evolution of porter as a style is one of the most compelling and important stories of modern brewing. Baltic porter, almost uniquely, is a wonderful consummation of both events.

Porter of 300 years ago was a blend of beers, combined artfully by private publicans before serving. The task of blending shifted to savvy brewers, the mixture then sold to pubs. The Industrial Age ushered in breweries able to produce massive quantities of beer, essentially flooding Great Britain with the brown brew known as porter.

Strong porters became known as “stout porter,” thanks to Guinness, and later simply as “stout.” They developed side-by-side with porter as distinct beers and later diverged as malting technology allowed brewers to tailor recipes with pale, roasted, black and caramelized malt in the early 19th century, eliminating the blending altogether. Even though paler beers were becoming more popular than porter and stout, the latter styles held on partly due to their appeal in other markets. As England was a powerful maritime merchandiser, export across the cold northern latitudes was easily facilitated.

ExPorter

By the late 18th century, England began exporting its renowned pale ale to India to quench the thirst and keep up the spirits of their troops. Famously known as India pale ale, it was brewed to a higher strength, attenuation and hop bitterness to withstand the trip and prevent spoilage.

Similarly, fortified porters and stouts were shipped to allies in the east. While not a long journey into the Baltic Sea, it is rather treacherous, sprinkled with hundreds of rocky islands and snug straits. The careful journey, made for the purpose of commerce, allowed access to innumerable beer-loving ports along the way in Denmark, Germany, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Western Russia.

No doubt this was a much less detrimental trip to the beer than the one taken to India, as the water was cold and the duration relatively short. The methodical trip may have taken weeks nonetheless, inadvertently resulting in a smooth, essentially cold-conditioned beer once it reached its eastern-most destinations. Coincidentally, this was at a period when lager brewing was becoming more common throughout Europe at large, given the influence of Germany and Bohemia.

The voyage also included intimate contact with the port city Copenhagen, gateway to the Baltic region, and home of the Carlsberg lager brewery, whose owners and brewers essentially invented brewing science. Owner Jacob Christian Jacobsen procured a lager yeast in Vienna, and employed it at his brewery in the mid-1800s. In 1883, Emil Hansen, a scientist working at Carlsberg isolated a single cell of the strain that became known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, a name that is still used collectively for lager yeast. This brush with Copenhagen may not have directly or immediately influenced the future of England’s strong exported porters, but nevertheless was a symbolic foreshadowing of their evolution.

Flavor Profile

Baltic porters are deep, dense and thoughtful beers. As they borrow much from other, more familiar styles, they have many layers of flavors. Sweet, soothing maltiness akin to the finest German bocks is present. Rummy, raisin and licorice notes similar to an old ale reside in the profile. The character also has hints of chocolate and coffee, and at times, a roasted background. All co-mingle into a smooth, silky flavor that is contemplative but robust. Hops rates are noticeable in the dark versions but understated in the lighter-colored ones. Satisfying indeed.

The Baltic porter brewers have borrowed style and technology from Germany, England and the Czech Republic, creating a somewhat hybridized category of strong beer. Some Baltic porters are top fermented and true to their roots, but others, unlike the porters of London, are bottom fermented, producing a soft roundness in the beer. These brews range from 5.5 percent to over 9 percent ABV.

From Whence?

Baltic porters share some traditions and characteristics with Imperial stouts, and at times are almost indistinguishable from them. These two styles do, in fact, have a common origin and traceable history. British breweries of the 18th and 19th centuries were famous for their stouts and porters. Seeking to expand markets and satisfy allies to the east, the British exported their dark ales to northern ports by way of the Baltic Sea, touching Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, western Russia, and continental European port cities. These export ales were made stronger and hoppier than normal, which enabled them to endure the voyage. The extra alcoholic strength was no doubt a welcome attribute in those countries with harsh winters and a taste for the robust.

With distribution routes by both land and sea, it wasn’t long before Imperial stouts and strong porters made their way into many markets, from the northern port cities into landlocked eastern Europe. The style’s far-reaching appeal convinced many local breweries to make house versions. To this day, each region gives its porter a distinct stylistic interpretation. The farther one gets from England, the less these beers resemble the originals.

Generally speaking, Slavic and Baltic breweries produce strong porters as bottom-fermented lagers that resemble bocks in strength and flavor. Scandinavian brewers use top fermentation and their porters retain the dark roasted malt character.

Traveling through Porterland

The port cities of Sweden are a relatively short sail from Britain and thus provided a convenient and lucrative market for the British export ales. The first porter brewery in Sweden was established in 1791 by Brit William Knox in Gothenburg.
D. Carnegie and Co., Sweden’s largest brewery, produces the Baltic porter that most resembles the original porters of London. This holdover brew, called Stark Porter, is a gem. Like a London porter, it is of moderate strength, deep black, and top fermented. It is available throughout North America.