a brewer of the name of Harwood conceived the
idea of making a liquor which should partake
of the united flavoui-s of ale, beer, and two-
penny. He did so, and succeeded, calling it
entire, or entire butt; and as it was a very
heai-ty and nourishing liquor, it was very suit-
able for porters, or other working people ; hence
it obtained the name of porter." It would
hardly be possible to ascertain what was the
precise quality of the porter of that time, but
it was very hkely dift'erent in some respects
from the beverage of the same name made at
present, in consequence of changes in the in-
gredients and the mode of manufacture, as well
as in the taste of the public, and also from
enactments which have restricted the ingre-
dients within narrower limits than those to
which they were foi-merly confined.
On the subject of porter we gain some
interesting particulars from Dr. Hassall's
"Food and its Adulterations." Porter should
be brewed of malt and hops alone, and the
colour and flavour should be due to these
alone. The colour of all malt liquor depends
upon the degree of heat to which the malt has
been subjected in the kiln, and upon the
amount of ripeness attained by the hops before
being stripped from the poles. Thus for pale
bitter ale one must prevent the husk of the
malt from charring in the least, and maintain
the original straw colour of the barley ; and in
the selection of the hops care must be taken
that they be picked as soon as sufiiciently ripe
to keep, and that no single brown or withered
leaf be suffered to remain. In the case of the
malt and hops required for porter the reverse
of aU this is the case. " The malt should be
briskly di-ied until the flower of the grain is of
a light brown colour, and crushes with a crisp
friability between the teeth; the hops, also,
should have hung in the autumn sun till they
have attained a rich golden hue, and the seeds
are perfectly developed. AVith all attention to
these requirements, however, the beer brewed
would still be far from the necessary colour
and flavour-, and to attain these the maltster is
compelled to prepare malt in a peculiar manner.
It must be remembered, nevertheless, that the
strength of the porter is due almost entirely to
the pale malt, as the other kinds have their
saccharine properties so dried up and burnt as
to render them nearly useless, except for colour
and flavour.
"In addition to these distinctive properties
of porter, there is one other of still greater
importance, the peculiarity of the fermenta-
tion. Up to the conmiehcement of this last
stage of the process of brewing, the manu-
facture of porter is conducted in exactly the
same manner as that of ale, with the addi-
tion of the different flavouring malts before
mentioned ; but during the fermentation the
great difference is effected, as all the sugar is
converted into spirit, excepting only such por-
tion as is required to preserve the beer from
the acetous fermentation, which is less than in
ale, by reason of the larger amount of hops used
in proportion to the strength of the work.
Ordinary ale is more liable to damage the
stomach by reason of its greater sweetness,
while porter is more heady in proportion to its
POR
(616)
POR
strength and soporific in its tendency, from the
strong infusion of hojjs in its composition." ✪ Porter
Page 1301 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
a brewer of the name of Harwood conceived the idea of making a liquor which should partake of the united flavours of ale, beer, and twopenny. He did so, and succeeded, calling it entire, or entire butt; and as it was a very hearty and nourishing liquor, it was very suitable for porters, or other working people ; hence it obtained the name of porter." It would hardly be possible to ascertain what was the precise quality of the porter of that time, but it was very likely different in some respects from the beverage of the same name made at present, in consequence of changes in the ingredients and the mode of manufacture, as well as in the taste of the public, and also from enactments which have restricted the ingredients within narrower limits than those to which they were formerly confined.
On the subject of porter we gain some interesting particulars from Dr. Hassall's "Food and its Adulterations." Porter should be brewed of malt and hops alone, and the colour and flavour should be due to these alone. The colour of all malt liquor depends upon the degree of heat to which the malt has been subjected in the kiln, and upon the amount of ripeness attained by the hops before being stripped from the poles. Thus for pale bitter ale one must prevent the husk of the malt from charring in the least, and maintain the original straw colour of the barley ; and in the selection of the hops care must be taken that they be picked as soon as sufiiciently ripe to keep, and that no single brown or withered leaf be suffered to remain. In the case of the malt and hops required for porter the reverse of aU this is the case. " The malt should be briskly dried until the flower of the grain is of a light brown colour, and crushes with a crisp friability between the teeth; the hops, also, should have hung in the autumn sun till they have attained a rich golden hue, and the seeds are perfectly developed. AVith all attention to these requirements, however, the beer brewed would still be far from the necessary colour and flavour, and to attain these the maltster is compelled to prepare malt in a peculiar manner. It must be remembered, nevertheless, that the strength of the porter is due almost entirely to the pale malt, as the other kinds have their saccharine properties so dried up and burnt as to render them nearly useless, except for colour and flavour.
"In addition to these distinctive properties of porter, there is one other of still greater importance, the peculiarity of the fermentation. Up to the commencement of this last stage of the process of brewing, the manufacture of porter is conducted in exactly the same manner as that of ale, with the addition of the different flavouring malts before mentioned ; but during the fermentation the great difference is effected, as all the sugar is converted into spirit, excepting only such portion as is required to preserve the beer from the acetous fermentation, which is less than in ale, by reason of the larger amount of hops used in proportion to the strength of the work. Ordinary ale is more liable to damage the stomach by reason of its greater sweetness, while porter is more heady in proportion to its
POR
(616)
POR
strength and soporific in its tendency, from the strong infusion of hojjs in its composition."
Records on this page
Porter