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Mark it down: Baltic Porter Day this year is January 18, always the third Saturday of this month. This year’s will be the 10th edition of a commemoration that began in 2016 in Poland, where rich, hefty, cool-fermented porters reign supreme. Marcin Chmielarz has worn many hats in the industry—bar manager, brewer, video blogger—but one of his most notable achievements is helping to draw Poland’s attention to its own distinctive porters.
In this episode, Chmielarz digs into the history of the style from the Polish perspective, while also highlighting the ingredients and techniques behind it—featuring great malt complexity but smooth character, high gravities, and patient fermentation with lager yeast. He also discusses modern iterations, including those that are dry-hopped, barrel-aged, or flavored with ingredients such as Polish smoked plums.
Along the way, the conversation also hits upon:
- Baltic porter as a worthy technical challenge for brewers
- the origins of porter in Poland and the Baltic region
- why brewers in the region shifted to using lager yeast
- the importance of both balance and richness in the malt bill
- brewing Baltic porter with smoked malt
- the challenges of barrel-aging Baltic porter
- what happens on Baltic Porter Day, in Poland and beyond
- why we should respect the traditional style
And more.
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