We recently featured Estonia brewery Põhjala on the DC Beer show. As a primer, Baltic Porter Day honors the porters brewed in the Baltic countries. It began in Poland in 2015 and occurs on the third Saturday every January.

To quote Peeter Keek, co-founder of Põhjala, “the Baltic Porter was named and first brewed in London and named after the London brewers because it was a stronger porter than the London market was used to, and it was only shipped over here [after] many brewers took over the style and brewed it here [the Baltic region]. So that is the origin of the name and connects it tightly to the region. Although the very first Baltic Porters were brewed in London.”

This year’s Baltic Porter Day comes on Saturday, January, 17, and Põhjala beers will be available at leading Porter stockists like ChurchKey and Metro Wine & Spirits. “Metro Wine & Spirits?” you ask. Yes! Former Hop, Cask & Barrel manager Jared Prager, has successfully stocked the Georgetown shop so well that he’s now moving his managerial talents to the Columbia Heights store where you’ll find many Põhjala specialties. Read on to see the Põhjala beers and other Baltic Porters and other locales.

elder pine ba baltic porter 2026
Pic via @broken.light19

An old maxim of the beer industry goes: dark beer never sells as well as pale beer. That may not hold true for beers with a massive following like Guinness, but it generally is true for smaller brewers and their diverse portfolios. “[T]rue-to-style Baltic Porters are far less sweet & roasty than American Porter & Stout,” notes Paul Davidson, head brewer at Elder Pine Brewing + Blending. It “is an often misunderstood style of beer in the US.” In the spirit of promoting the wonderful beer style Baltic Porter, we are telling DC Beer readers what’s going to be available where.

When we spoke with Põhjala co-owner Keek, he told us of his goals to put Estonia as a culinary country on the world map. “This is a process that takes years, but we want to be really known as one of the best Baltic Porter brewers in the world.” He notes that when people think of Norway, they think of salmon, and when people think of Switzerland, they think of chocolate or cheese.

“From Estonia, we have dark bread. That’s nice… [b]ut people are… very open to discover new relaxing alcoholic drinks with the story and the history. And it will take you… [time to] travel… you’re not leaving your couch or your favorite bar [when enjoying their beer in DC].” Presciently enough, Keek’s words will ring true if you get to Churchkey or Metro Wine and Spirit for Põhjala on draft and in bottles/cans.

In addition to the wonderful Estonian Baltic Porter that is on offer at Metro Wine and Churchkey, you may be able to find some exceptional local offerings like Port City Brewing Company’s Baltic Porter.

When I asked Port City’s head brewer Adam Reza II about Baltic porter, he mentioned the beer came into the lineup in 2018.

“We wanted to add a higher ABV option to our existing lager series and use a portion of the beer to barrel age. We pride ourselves in making a good Porter, so we thought why not give Baltic Porter a shot. We use Pilsner, Munich, Vienna, Cara 60, a touch of Carafa III and it’s hopped with Willamette. We then lager for 6-7 weeks. For a 8.4% beer it’s very smooth with a subtle hop character that lets dark fruit and bittersweet chocolate notes shine.”

If you are a lager lover, the Port City Tasting Room is a beautiful place to enjoy Baltic Porter, Schwarzbier, Dopplebock, Tmave Pivo, Pizza Night (Czech-style “half-dark”), Downright Pilsner, il Palio Italian-style Pilsner, and Hidden Paintbox, a West Coast style Pilsner. Reza encourages readers to “[c]ome in and have a beer or two.”

port city baltic porter and lager
Pic via Brandy Holder

Not be outdone, Elder Pine has just released a barrel-aged rye Baltic Porter. “Barrel-aged Praamzius, Ruler of Time was aged for 11 months in a 50/50 blend of Sagamore… barrels…. [It] exudes one of the most pleasant oak characters we’ve achieved in our barrel-aged beers and we’re excited for you to enjoy it!”

“[S]everal years ago we set out to create a truly authentic representation of the style,” Davidson tells us. “Ruler of Time is brewed with the finest imported brown, chocolate and caramel malts. It is fermented cold with lager yeast and then cold conditioned at 33°F extensively to produce the cleanest, smoothest high ABV dark beer possible.” Tasting notes include “Coffee, chocolate covered caramel nuggets & toasted oak flavors dominate this highly drinkable strong beer.”

dave delaplaine mike stein baltic porter
Dave Delaplaine of Bluejacket and Mike Stein, pic via Brandy Holder

For Baltic Porter day, Churchkey will have 10 beers from Põhjala. Seven beers on draft and three beers in bottles:

Metro Wine & Spirits has the following to-go:

Arriving in the next 1-2 months:

If you’re doing dry January all of these beers will be good in February and some may even be better for Baltic Porter Day 2027! Talk to your Churchkey bartender or to Mr. Prager should you need consultation on which beer(s) to age.