Baltic Porter Day 20.01.2024
Since 2016 every third Saturday of January is Baltic Porter Day.
What can you expect? New baltic porters, brewed specially for this day. Events with baltic porters – special dishes, lectures, home brewing, etc. You can also invite few friends for a baltic porter tasting panel.
Since 2016 every third Saturday of January is Baltic Porter Day.
What can you expect? New baltic porters, brewed specially for this day. Events with baltic porters – special dishes, lectures, home brewing, etc. You can also invite few friends for a baltic porter tasting panel.
Every year, new porters are released, brewed specifically for Baltic Porter Day. Those will be new beers, new versions, barrel aged etc. Below you can find a list of all of those:
Brique House (FRA) – Baltic Porter, 6,8% abv
Browar Fortuna (POL) – Komes Porter Bałtycki Amburana. Baltic Porter aged with Amburana wood, 21 Blg, 9% abv
Browar pod Czarnym Kogutem (POL) – Porter Bałtycki
Browar Stu Mostów (POL) – Holy Beans. Baltic Porter with Tonka and Palo Santo, 25 Blg, 9% abv
Browar Stu Mostów (POL) – Plum Depths. Imperial Baltic Porter with smoked plum, 25 Blg, 9% abv
Browar Stu Mostów (POL) – Sherry Shadow. Imperial Baltic Porter Heaven Hill & Sherry Barrel Aged with Vanilla and Coconut, 26 Blg, 11% abv
Challenger – Porter Dębicki Ze Śliwką i Dębiną Beczek po Whisky. Baltic Porter with plums, whisky oak aged, 20 Blg, 8,5% abv
Dziki Wschód (POL) – Flauta. Imperial Baltic Porter, 24 Blg, 10,5% abv
Gryfus (POL) – Just Portowiec. Baltic Porter with Coffee & Cocoa, 21 Blg, 8,5% abv
Funky Fluid (POL) – Baltic Fire. Smoked Baltic Porter, 10,4% abv
Magic Road (POL) – Coffee Brownie. Imperial Baltic Porter, 9,6% abv
Magic Road (POL) – Cherry Storm. Imperial Baltic Porter Double Barrel Aged, 12% abv
Magic Road (POL) – Koziołki Bodą Się. Imperial Baltic Porter Barrel Aged, 11% abv
Maryensztadt (POL) – Darkness My Friend. Ice Distilled Imperial Baltic Porter, 14% abv
Moon Lark (POL) – Chimney. Smoked Baltic Porter, 22 Blg, 9,5% abv
Notch Brewing (USA) – Polski Baltic Porter. Classic Baltic Porter
Otwarte Bramy (POL) – Coś Czuję, Chyba Bukiet. Classic Baltic Porter, 20 Blg, 8,5% abv
Pinta (POL) – Porter Bay. Classic Baltic Porter, 22 Blg, 9% abv
Pinta (POL) – Portermass Triple Cocoa. Imperial Baltic Porter with cocoa, 30 Blg, 11% abv
Piwne Podziemie (POL) – Baltic Blaze. Imperial Baltic Porter with Suska Sechlońska and Mulato chilli, 27 Blg, 11,5% abv
Piwne Podziemie (POL) – Baltic Queen. Imperial Baltic Porter with Vanilla, 27 Blg, 11,5% abv
Piwnica Świdnicka (POL) – Gargulec
Piwoteka (POL) – Czarny Bałtyk. Classic Baltic Porter, 21,5 Blg, 9,5% abv
Piwoteka (POL) – Czarny Bałtyk Rum & Plum. Baltic Porter with plum, 21,5 Blg, 9,5% abv
Põhjala Brewery (EST) – Baltic Porter Day 2024. Imperial Baltic Porter with dried coffee cherries, 10% abv
ReCraft (POL) – Mentor III. Imperial Baltic Porter, 24 Blg, 9,5% abv
ReCraft (POL) – Mentor III With Cranberries, 24 Blg, 9,5% abv
ReCraft (POL) – Mentor III Bourbon Oak & Cedar Wood Chips, 24 Blg, 9,5% abv
Zakładowy (POL) – Pan Portier 2024. Imperial Baltic Porter, 24 Blg, 10,5% abv
As the name suggests Baltic Porter is a porter born in the Baltic Sea region. At first, porters brewed here were identical to London Porters, using the same methods and as similar ingredients as possible. But somewhere in time, it changed from ale to lager yeast. Who made this crucial change, where, and why? That we don’t know yet. What we know, is that somewhere in the XX century almost all breweries in the Baltic Sea region switched to lager yeast.
Baltic Porter is a strong, dark beer. Not as roasted as an Imperial Stout, and more drinkable. It has notes of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, caramel. It should be balanced, not too sweet, and not too bitter.
Style description from Beer Judge Certification Program:
Overall Impression: A strong, dark, malty beer with different interpretations within the Baltic region. Smooth, warming, and richly malty, with complex dark fruit flavors and
a roasted flavor without burnt notes.
Aroma: Rich maltiness often containing caramel, toffee, nuts, deep toast, or licorice notes. Complex alcohol and ester profile of moderate strength, and reminiscent of plums, prunes, raisins, cherries, or currants, occasionally with a vinous Portlike quality. Deep malt accents of dark chocolate, coffee, or molasses, but never burnt. No hops. No sourness. Smooth, not sharp, impression.
Appearance: Dark reddish-copper to opaque dark brown color, but not black. Thick, persistent tan-colored head. Clear, although darker versions can be opaque.
Flavor: As with aroma, has a rich maltiness with a complex blend of deep malt, dried fruit esters, and alcohol. The malt can have a caramel, toffee, nutty, molasses, or licorice complexity. Prominent yet smooth Schwarzbier-like roasted flavor that stops short of burnt. Light hints of black currants and dark dried fruits. Smooth palate and full finish. Starts malty-sweet but darker malt flavors quickly dominate and persist through the dryish finish, leaving a hint of roast coffee or licorice and dried fruit in the aftertaste. Medium-low to medium bitterness, just to provide balance and prevent it from seeming cloying. Hop flavor from slightly spicy hops ranges from none to medium-low. Clean fermentation profile.
Mouthfeel: Generally quite full-bodied and smooth, with a well-aged alcohol warmth that can be deceptive. Medium to medium-high carbonation, making it seem even more mouthfilling. Not heavy on the tongue due to carbonation level.
Comments: Most commercial versions are in the 7–8.5% ABV range. The best examples have a deceptive strength that makes them dangerously easy to drink. The character of these beers varies by country of origin, so be careful about generalizing based on a single example. Some beers are truer to their English roots, while others are more of the style first popularized in Poland.
History: Developed indigenously (and independently) in several countries bordering the Baltic Sea after import of popular English porters and stouts was interrupted in the early 1800s. Historically top-fermented, many breweries adapted the recipes for bottom-fermenting yeast along with the rest of their production. The name Baltic Porter is recent (since the 1990s) and describes the modern collection of beers with a somewhat similar profile from these countries, not historical versions.
Characteristic Ingredients: Generally lager yeast (cold fermented if using ale yeast, as is required when brewed in Russia). Debittered dark malt. Munich or Vienna base malt.
Continental hops. May contain crystal malts or adjuncts. Brown or amber malt common in historical recipes. As a collection of regional beers, different formulations are expected.
Style Comparison: Combines the body, maltiness, richness, and smoothness of a Doppelbock, the darker malt character of an English Porter, the roast flavors of a Schwarzbier, and alcohol and fruitiness of and Old Ale. Much less roasted and often lower in alcohol than an Imperial Stout.
My name is Marcin Chmielarz, and I’m the creator of Baltic Porter Day. Also a brewer, beer vlogger, pub beer manager, and technical advisor for brewing.
As you would imagine, I’m a big fan of Baltic Porters. I wanted to do something, to help promote this style. Inspired by Stout Day and more locally Grodziskie Day I created the first Baltic Porter Day in 2016. Since then it has become the biggest beer celebration day in Poland, and growing in other countries as well.
If you have any questions please contact me at balticporterday @ gmail.com
Also if you want to brew a Baltic Porter in your brewery, and want to consult the recipe I will be happy to help.
If you want to support Baltic Porter Day and look cool doing it you can buy an official t-shirt
