New Year, New Beer
Goodbye, 2024. Hello, 2025; and with the new year comes a new opportunity to try a style of beer that is perhaps not on your radar. Every third Saturday in January, (this year landing on January 18th), is dedicated to the Baltic Porter, a lesser known, but no less tasty, dark beer and makes for a perfect addition to your craft beer rotation this winter.
The Baltic Porter was born out of English Imperial stouts. In the late 1700s, stouts began to be exported from England to the Baltic region, consisting of today’s countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and eventually into Finland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia – of which empress, Catherine the Great, was known to have quite the affinity for! These English stouts became very popular amongst the folks – known as “porters” – who transported goods and cargo from the ports across the landscape of the Baltics. The English beer infiltrated into the culture of the region where residents began to make their own versions, but with local ingredients and their own traditional brewing techniques.
The main difference between Baltic Porters and English Imperial stouts are what type of yeast are used during the fermenting process. Baltic Porters, are cold-fermented using lager yeast, while English Imperial stouts utilize ale yeast and are warm-fermented. Malts and hops also changed with what types were available in that part of the world. Thus, Baltic Porters are lagers and have more of a malty, caramel-like sweetness and contain less roasted, coffee-like notes than that of an English Imperial stout, which is an ale, is known for. Both types of beer pour dark brown-to-black in coloration and contain a high-alcohol content with ABVs ranging from 7-12%.
While Baltic Porters are notoriously difficult to find at your average local brewery, one of the most popular and exceptional can easily be found in Central New York if you seek it out. Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers out of Framingham, MA brews their version of a Baltic Porter called Framinghammer. At a whopping 10% ABV, this brew is not for the faint of heart! The beer is created with oats, brown sugar, and roasted malts, but the sweetness is balanced out by the bitter hops utilized. It remains dark, decadent, and warming with a smooth and velvety mouthfeel, containing delicious chocolate, caramel, and toffee flavors, while still maintaining some earthy/woodsy notes. Jack’s Abby has also created specialty versions of its original Baltic Porter including Espresso Barrel-Aged, French Toast Barrel-Aged, and a Coconut Rum Barrel-Aged Framinghammer among several others.
Currently, Branching Out Bottle Shop, Wegmans, and Harvey’s Garden all have the original Framinghammer Baltic Porter available, and it is certainly worth your tastebuds checking out, whether on the 18th of January or at any time this winter season! Cheers!
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