Yankee Brew News Archive

Book Review: Classic Stout and Porter

Originally Published: 10/97

By: Naughty Nurse

Book Review

Classic Stout and Porter

By Roger Protz, 192 pages., $16.95

Prion Books, London

U.S. distribution by Trafalgar Square

Reviewed by The Naughty Nurse

My goodness I can find nothing negative to say about this book even though the subject is so dear to my ex-British heart. If I didn't know better I would have said that Roger Protz sat down and wrote this in one session. The writing flows so smoothly that I read it almost as though it were a novel. His talent is to be able to get away from regurgitating isolated themes and instead weave all threads of facts into a flowing stream of beery beauty.

The long, yet never tedious, historical section eventually blossoms into descriptions of the world's major brands. Here we learn not only of the beers but of their development and their brewers' personal quirks. He spends a lot of time on Guinness and its history ( and rightly so) but then ties what Guinness has done into the other stout and porter products of the world. At last I am vindicated in having always said that Guinness is my favorite Belgian beer. He takes us through its souring process and even mentions the magic words 'lactic Brettanomyces yeast flavors.'

There is humor, which is sometimes biting, strong personal opinion and a Britishness of writing style which includes the phrase "...the beer went off quickly". This means that the beer stayed where it was but infective organisms tried to carry it off.

Lots of historical tidbits, poems and quotes bring the development of the beer styles into focus. In 1726 a French writer apparently wrote that in London, beer was drunk instead of water. Funny how times don't change much.

One thing that puzzles me is the final section entitled 'Cooking With Stout and Porter'. The British haven't mastered fish and chips yet so I feel this chapter will be beyond them. Who was it who said "The British have done for food what dioxin has done for the environment"? This book has done for the stout and porter what The Holy Bible has done for Christianity.

Its printing quality and layout are superb and is a snip at $16.95.