A pearl from the Meantime brewing history archive.
Porter being delicate neither in colour nor taste, and eminently manageable in brewing, materials might be utilised more rigourously than in ale brewing. Successful brown malts could be made from barley less fine than could be made from barley less fine than that required for the best pale. Hops of the second grade did not prejudice the quality of porter as much as they might the finest ale.
Peter Mathias
The Brewing Industry in England 1700-1830
1959

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