Every beer style has its own day of celebration, and if you find one that doesn’t now it surely soon will Portland, Oregon’s Threshold Brewing & Blending has now informed me of two official beer day celebrations that that I was previously unaware of. As As a Polish owned Oregon brewery Threshold has continuously tapped into their culture for inspiration like when they hosted a Grodziskie Day discussion in March, and for the upcoming Baltic Porter Day on January 18th.

For their first ever Baltic Porter Day party Threshold Brewing is presenting a Baltic Porter invitational festival with 10 Pacific Northwest-brewed Baltic Porters. The style of Baltic Porter is worth investigating, as most beer nerds are familiar with the Porter category, much fewer know about this unique sub-category which dates its origins back to the late 1700s in the Baltic regions including Poland, Estonia, Finland, and Russia.

Baltic Porter was embraced and reimagined by Polish Brewers in the 1800s. Inspired by the burly high-alcohol Russian Imperial Stouts being exported from Britain, the Polish Brewers put their own spin on the style by switching ale yeast for lager yeast reportedly due to the cold climate. A classic Baltic porter has a heavier malt bill and typically clocks in around 8% abv. The lager fermentation tends to bring out higher dark fruity esters and a crisper and more rounded mouthfeel and finish.

The Polish dark beer event starts at noon on Saturday January 18th at the Threshold Brewing taproom and will feature 10 Pacific Northwest-brewed Baltic porters. Threshold’s Oregon Beer Awards gold medal-winning Neptune Baltic porter will be on draft and guest taps from Single Hill (Yakima), Wander (Bellingham), and Portland’s Away Days, Zoiglhaus, ForeLand, Little Beast and more. 

In addition, Threshold will be serving their famous Zapiekanka - a pizza-reminiscent Polish street food - and their full Pierogi menu of stuffed dumplings including Potato and Farmer’s Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Potato, and Mushroom and Cabbage. 

Also of note: a Polish bottle share will occur at 2 p.m. back in Threshold’s brewhouse, featuring a selection of Polish imports thanks to special guest Pawel Pilat, owner of Poland’s first privately owned hop breeding program Polish Hops. Guests are welcome to bring their own Polish beer to the share as well.

Baltic Porter Invitational

Threshold Brewing

403 SE 79th Ave, Portland, Oregon

Saturday, January 18

12 - 9 p.m.