From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A dark, very bitter, mildly alcoholic beer first brewed in London in 1730 as a substitute for a drink called Entire, a popular mix of ale and beer. Entire was advertised as being richer and more nourishing than ale, intended for porters, carters and other heavy laborers who would find in the brew's potency the ability to accomplish tasks that no spirit drinker could perform. Its dark color was derived from roasted, unmalted barley and sometimes a dash of licorice. In the British Isles, porter was overtaken in popularity by bitter stout in the 19th century, and the last porter was brewed in Dublin in 1973. Porter is still brewed today in East Germany, North and South America, Africa, China, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Russia.
