PORTER-STOUT & the Rise of Guinness.

A TALE OF THREE (OR FOUR) MALTS              Part Two.

    London brewed Plain Porter and Stout Porter (strong Porter) were shipped to Dublin in increasing quantities during the 18th century. With their strong flavors and solid alcohol levels (6-7% for Plain, 8% for Stout)they became dominant in the Dublin market for a premium, and profitable brew.
    Naturally this drove local brewers to investigate making their own.Arthur Guinness was then brewing ale on a modest scale at Leixlip, a small country town about ten miles west of Dublin. Scenting opportunity Mr. Guinness took a 9,000 year lease at £45 a year on a bankrupt brewery close by the River Liffey, at St. James’s Gate, Dublin. That was in 1759, and ten years later, he sent his first shipment of Ale off to England, some six and a half barrels worth. At that point Guinness brewed Ales, but in 1778, Guinness introduced their own Porter, although Ale continued to be brewed at St. James’s Gate until the end of the century. The first Guinness beers to have the word Stout in their name were not to appear until the 1820s.

            As previously noted, Porter evolved slowly during the 18th century away from crudely kilned Brown Malts to a blend of Pale Malt and dark, roasted malts, and/or roasted barley to confer color and some pleasing bitterness.

            We should also note that in this era, before refrigeration, brewing in the hot summer months was always tricky. Yeasts could run wild, bacterial infections could take over, the yeast might not brew “true”-- that is there might be wild yeasts that got into the brew and produced off flavors. So most breweries brewed up very strong beers in the

spring, with as much 10 or 11º ABV. These special brews, very “Stout” brews, would be used as blending material with summer brews, sometimes to rescue a brew that was going bad, other times to improve a brew that had some problems, and sometimes to simply produce a stronger, better brew than usual.  Naturally, brewers charged more for these “Stout” beers, and they appeared as Single, Double and Triple Stouts, at varying levels of alcohol, from around 7º up to 9º or even 10º.

The shift from Brown to Pale Malts during the Napoleonic war allowed the London Brewers to make Pale Ales, and what would become known as “Bitter” Ale, as cheaply as their Porters. These styles of Ale, fined for clarity, sold in glasses in the better sort of drinking establishments became a popular alternative to “Plain Porter.” As kilning of malt with coke became less and less expensive, so Pale Malt became the malt of choice for every brewer and Pale Ale became competitive with Porter.

However, Porter remained socially favored up to the 1830s. By that time, however, inexpensive, mass-produced glassware was becoming commonplace. A glass of dark, murky Porter seemed old fashioned next to a glass full of a clear, amber Pale Ale and as is usually the way of these things, the old gave way to the new. At the same time the center of gravity in English brewing began to shift away from London to Burton on Trent in the Midlands.  Bass & Co. Brewery, founded in 1777, popularised bottled ales. The water from boreholes around Burton became so highly regarded by brewers, that there were thirty of them in operation in and around Burton by 1850. Meanwhile, the development of the system of canals and later, the railroads in England, allowed for the movement of bottled beers in a way that had not been feasible in the 18th century.

            By 1860, the era of Porter’s dominance in the English marker was on the wane. Strong, “Plain” Porter declined into “Mild” Porter, a lower alcohol brew. Various types of Pale Ale replaced it and by 1914 and the start of World War 1, “Bitter” Ale had become the standard beer of England.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, tastes had evolved in a different direction.  Plain Porter gradually gave way to Single Stout, then Double Stout, and Guinness brand became, far and away, the most popular Stout in Ireland.

At the same time, Guinness was exported to England, as well as to many

other lands.

Initially Guinness Porter came in two strengths, marked X or XX. In 1820 Guinness renamed XX as Guinness Extra Stout Porter. At about the same time Guinness began sending a Triple Stout, XXX, made to a strength of 8º ABV to the Caribbean, and eventually this version was named Foreign Extra Stout.

            During the 19th century Guinness grew steadily, becoming Ireland’s biggest brewer, then hitting the one million barrel mark in 1881 and by 1914, the St James’s Gate facility was the largest brewery in the world. Since then, of course, Anheuser Busch’s gigantic St. Louis brewery has taken that title, but St. James’s Gate remains Europe’s largest.

Today, Guinness Stout comes in at least 5 versions, with others available now and then, such as the Brewhouse Series produced in 2005 and 2006.

     The primary variants available to most of us are--

Guinness Draught--  alc  4.2% ABV.  (125 Calories in US pint).  A soft, simple, easy to drink version, with lower bitterness and a strong “creaminess” factor. Comes either on draft from the bar, with a complex dispensing system to maximize the “creaminess” aspect, or in both can and bottle with the “widget” -- a small spherical device that holds nitrogen under pressure in the can. When the can is opened the gas is released. The bottle widget is shaped like a tiny rocket ship to keep it properly oriented in the bottle and the gas emerges from the bottom.

            With both widgets the effect is to produce a satisfying, thick head of foam, at least half an inch thick at the top of the beer.

Guinness Original or Extra Stout.  6% ABV in USA, Japan, Australia. (4.2% UK, Ireland, Europe.)  More roasted barley and higher alcohol level, at least in the US version, give this more bitterness, and a winey, complex flavor profile.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.   7.5% ABV in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.  Apparently, this brew is shipped as an unfermented,  pre-hopped wort extract, which is then mixed with local materials and brewed. Strength varies from place to place too.

    The basics remain the same, however. Pale Malts-- usually English two-row Barley, plus Crystal malt for extra body. A considerable amount of Roasted barley is added to provide color and the classic bitterness and roasted flavors.

Guinness remains one of the world’s most widely distributed beers,

available almost everywhere in one form or another. Alas, even in  Dublin these days, the Guinness Stout is dispensed under nitrogen gas. Perhaps, someday, Guinness will put out a premium version with the yeast left in the bottle to give it the bottle conditioned taste that Guinness drinkers of a certain age remember with such fondness.