Baltic Porters, a beer famous in Eastern Europe, is a unique brew for sure. Born out of the love and thirst for English porters in the 18th and 19th centuries, Eastern European and Northern European brewers took their own access to local ingredients and made a new style out of the original porter and in this, fundamentally changed the way we think about dark beer. For one, most of the Baltic porters are made with lager yeast, a sharp contrast to other porters in America and England brewed with ale yeast.
Baltic porters can also be higher in ABV, with the famous Polish Baltic porter Żywiec (pronounced “Shoe-Vee-Its”) being a whopping 9.5% ABV. So what is the history behind this beer style and how do modern Polish and American commercial brewers brew it?
We talk to two brewers: one from Poland and one from America to see what approaches they take with this fascinating style.
Guests
Mikal Kopik has 21 years of experience in the beer industry in its full scope – from consulting in the field of raw materials and brewing technologies, to designing beer recipes and selecting the best pre-production variants for the market. He works in cooperation with contract breweries and restaurants. In addition to all of this, he also creates food pairings, is a beer mixology expert and educator, International beer judge and lecturer of postgraduate brewing studies.
Jenny Pfafflin is a brewer and marketing & creative manager at Dovetail Brewery, a brewery in Chicago that specializes in Continental European styles and traditional methods. She is also an Advanced Cicerone—which dovetails her interests in the traditions of both brewing and beer service—and is also a Certified Sake Professional and makgeolli homebrewer.
Listen to the whole conversation where you download podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Overcast.
For original articles or to read the vast archives check out All About Beer. Follow us on Instagram and Threads @allaboutbeer. Support our journalism by visiting our Patreon Page.
This episode is sponsored by:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, where trailblazing runs in the family. From crafting a movement with their iconic Pale Ale, to taking the IPA haze craze nationwide with Hazy Little Thing – it’s an adventurous spirit you can taste in every sip. Find your next favorite beer wherever fine beverages are sold. With new brews for every season, there’s always something to discover. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Still Family-Owned, Operated & Argued Over.
Need ingredients and supplies that deliver consistent, high-quality beer? RahrBSG has you covered. From hops to malt to yeast to unbeatable customer service, we are dedicated to your success. RahrBSG—Ingredients for Greatness.
Attention brewers: registration is now open for the 2025 Best of Craft Beer Awards. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition judged by fellow brewers and industry leaders; it uses a unique set of style guidelines that champions harmonious and dynamic beers. Held in beautiful Central Oregon, it’s the third largest professional brewing competition in North America and is an opportunity to have your hard work evaluated and rewarded. In addition to traditional and specialty beer styles, new this year is the Hop Water category. Register your beers through January 31, 2025 by visiting https://bestofcraftbeerawards.com/. Don’t delay, learn more and get your beers signed up by visiting https://bestofcraftbeerawards.com/
Em Sauter
Called the “Bob Ross of beer” by Imbibe magazine, Em Sauter is an award winning cartoonist, author, beer judge, journalist and public speaker based in the US and is the founder of the website Pints and Panels which teaches visual drinks education. She has an MFA in cartooning from the famous Center for Cartoon Studies, is an Advanced Cicerone®, holds WSET Level 2 in Spirits and Wine and is an BJCP certified international beer judge who has judged high-profile competitions on every continent but Antarctica. She is the co-host of the All About Beer podcast along with Canadian drinks writer Don Tse. She has contributed to Forbes, Brewers and Distillers International, Craft Beer and Brewing, Vinepair, Outside, The Alcohol Professor and more. She is the author of four books on beer.
Don Tse
Living near seven malthouses, Don Tse is a freelance beer and malt writer and consultant known globally as The Don of Beer. He has been active in craft beer for over 25 years and has famously sampled and written tasting notes on over 31,000 different beers. He is the co-host of the All About Beer podcast. Don has also written for magazines and presented on beer in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ukraine and Singapore. Nobody in those countries thinks his jokes are funny.
