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Styles · Pre-Prohibition Porter

Beer style · BJCP 2021 27F

Pre-Prohibition Porter

Historical Beer

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.046–1.060
Final gravity
1.010–1.016
Bitterness
20–30 IBU
Color
18–30 SRM (35–59 EBC)
Alcohol
4.5–6.0 % ABV

What it is

An American take on porter from the turn of the twentieth century, brewed with adjuncts alongside dark and caramel malts. Moderate roast and sweet chocolate notes sit over a light, adjunct-thinned body, and the hopping is noticeable without being assertive.

Flavor

What a Pre-Prohibition Porter should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Room for herbal, spice or earthy/woody.

Malt

Grainy, chocolate and coffee/roast, with room for caramel, sweet/honey, toasty or dark fruit.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for fruity esters.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Pre-Prohibition Porter has classically been brewed with.

Also right on character

Varieties whose loudest notes all sit on this style’s hop wheel, best fit first. How much to use is the recipe’s question; these are the ones that taste right.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

And 49 more yeasts whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.