Porter has deep London roots, and Anspach & Hobday leaned all the way into that heritage when Paul Anspach and Jack Hobday started homebrewing together. The Porter became their flagship beer, the beer that won them a strong finish in a commercial brewing competition against the likes of Fuller’s and Young’s before they’d even opened a brewery, and it’s still the beer the Druid Street arch is best known for.
The Porter at a glance
| Brewery | Anspach & Hobday, 118 Druid Street, Bermondsey, London |
| Style | London Porter |
| ABV | 6.7% |
| IBU | 47 |
| Flavour | Coffee, chocolate, treacle |
| Where we found it | Anspach & Hobday’s Druid Street taproom and online shop |
How it tastes, by the numbers
The Porter is 6.7% ABV with 47 IBU, numbers that put it well past a session beer but not into imperial stout territory. It’s built with a malt bill designed to give a rich, roasty coffee-and-chocolate character without the sharpness of a heavily hopped stout.
The full review
Pours near-black with a tan head, and the aroma is exactly what you want from a London porter: sweet, malty coffee up front. On the palate it delivers coffee, dark chocolate and treacle, in that order, with none of the harsh, ashy bitterness that some dark beers lean on to seem more ‘serious’.
At 6.7% it sounds stronger than it drinks. London’s naturally hard water is doing real work here, giving the beer a silky, almost soft mouthfeel that makes the strength easy to underestimate over a couple of pints, worth pacing yourself given it’s usually one of the later stops on the Mile.
This is a porter built to finish a meal or a session rather than open one: dangerously sessionable for its strength, and one of the more award-recognised beers to come out of the whole Bermondsey scene.
Near-black with a tan head, coffee and dark chocolate on the nose, and a silky, soft mouthfeel at 6.7% that makes it easy to underestimate how strong it actually is.
- The beer that put Anspach & Hobday on the map, still brewed to the same recipe that beat established commercial brewers in competition
- Rich coffee, chocolate and treacle character without harsh, ashy bitterness
- London’s hard water gives it an unusually silky, smooth mouthfeel for a 6.7% porter
- Widely available in cans as well as on tap at the Druid Street taproom
- At 6.7%, it’s easy to underestimate the strength given how smoothly it drinks
- Not a light or session-friendly stop if you’re doing the whole Mile in one afternoon
- If you’re after a hop-forward beer, this is entirely malt-led and won’t scratch that itch
Who it is for
The Porter is for anyone who wants a rich, coffee-and-chocolate dark beer without the bitterness or roast-forward harshness of a stout. It’s a strong candidate for the last stop on the Mile rather than the first, given the 6.7% ABV.
The Porter FAQs
What is The Porter by Anspach & Hobday?
The Porter is Anspach & Hobday’s flagship 6.7% London porter, brewed on Druid Street in Bermondsey and known for its coffee, chocolate and treacle character.
What does Anspach & Hobday’s The Porter taste like?
It pours near-black with a tan head, with coffee and dark chocolate aromatics, a treacle-leaning sweetness, and a silky, smooth mouthfeel rather than a harsh, roasty bitterness.
How strong is The Porter?
It’s 6.7% ABV with 47 IBU, stronger than a session beer but well short of an imperial stout.
Where can I buy The Porter?
It’s on tap at Anspach & Hobday’s own taproom at 118 Druid Street, and cans are available through their online shop and most decent UK bottle shops.
Anspach & Hobday’s The Porter is a UK taproom release not sold through US delivery apps. Founders Porter is a comparable US-available porter.
Where to buy The Porter
You can drink it fresh at Anspach & Hobday’s Druid Street taproom on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, or buy cans through their online shop.
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The verdict
The Porter earns its reputation as Anspach & Hobday’s flagship: rich, roasty and genuinely smooth for its strength, with London’s hard water doing a lot of the work in making 6.7% feel far more drinkable than it should. It’s one of the standout dark beers anywhere on the Bermondsey Beer Mile.
