Beer History Storyline
Porter, Stout, and Guinness
Trace dark beer from London porter and industrial vat brewing to Guinness, imperial stout, nitrogen dispense, and modern craft reinterpretations.
Chronological milestones
Sources and further references are available on each individual event page.
1721
Porter Emerges in Early-Eighteenth-Century London
December 11, 1742
Samuel Whitbread Establishes His Brewing Business
1750s
Giant Wooden Porter Vats Transform Industrial Brewing
December 31, 1759
Arthur Guinness Leases the St. James’s Gate Brewery
1770s
Guinness Begins Brewing Porter
1785
Whitbread Installs a Boulton & Watt Steam Engine
1795
Thrale & Co. Exports Strong Porter to Russia’s Imperial Court
1799
Guinness Stops Brewing Ale and Concentrates on Porter
1801
Guinness Brews West India Porter for Export
May 31, 1802
Matthew Wood Patents a Malt-Based Beer Coloring
October 17, 1814
The London Beer Flood
1817
Lorentska Begins Porter Production in Gothenburg
March 28, 1817
Wheeler Patents a Method for Roasting Malt
1821
Arthur Guinness II Records the Superior Porter Recipe
1822
Russia Restricts British Ale Imports but Continues to Admit Porter
July 25, 1833
Dreher and Sedlmayr Study British Brewing in London
1844
Barclay Perkins Advertises Imperial Double Brown Stout
1846
William Tizard Describes the Production of Blown Malt
1881
Żywiec Begins Brewing Porter
1907
Mackeson Brews an Early Milk Stout
March 1908
William Sealy Gosset Publishes “The Probable Error of a Mean” as “Student”
February 1929
Guinness Launches Its First National Advertising Campaign
September 9, 1940
Whitbread Brews Its Final Porter at Chiswell Street
1950
Guinness Promotes Oyster Pairing in Illustrated Advertising
1957
Sinebrychoff Introduces Its Modern Porter
1959
Michael Edward Ash’s Nitrogen System Creates Guinness Draught
March 15, 1963
Guinness Fills Its Last Wooden Beer Cask
1972
Anchor Introduces Anchor Porter
1988
Alaskan Brewing Introduces Alaskan Smoked Porter
1988
Goose Island Opens Its First Chicago Brewpub
1994
Baltika Launches No. 6 Porter
1995
Goose Island Opens Fulton Street Brewery
1995
Goose Island Creates Bourbon County Stout
1995
North Coast Brewing Releases Old Rasputin
2002
Founders Creates Breakfast Stout
2004
The BJCP Defines Baltic Porter as a Separate Competition Style
2006
Oskar Blues Introduces Ten FIDY
2011
Põhjala Brewery Is Founded in Tallinn
May 1, 2011
Goose Island Is Acquired by Anheuser-Busch
September 2014
Zmajska Releases Its First Pale Ale and Porter
January 16, 2016
The First Baltic Porter Day Is Celebrated
October 26, 2020
Guinness Launches Guinness 0.0
May 23, 2023
Brewers Association Adds Dessert or Pastry Stout Style