Żywiec Begins Brewing Porter

In 1881, the Archducal Brewery in Żywiec, in present-day Poland, began producing porter from a recipe developed by head brewer Juliusz Wagner. The dark beer joined the brewery’s range as a local interpretation of the English porter tradition. The brewery’s own history dates the first barrels leaving Żywiec to that year. Żywiec Porter subsequently became one of the beers grouped under the name Baltic porter. The BJCP’s modern guidelines list it among the style’s commercial examples. Its 1881 introduction marks the beginning of a particular brewery’s porter tradition within that wider regional history.