Porters: why bother?

Stouts and Porters have always confused me. From what I've read, stouts were created as a stronger version of a porter, so that they could be shipped across seas. Now if that is true, how can you explain Imperial Porters? How can you explain Guinness Draught which is only 4% abv, where as the average porter is at least 5%? How can you explain the eerily similar tastes?

I dont think there is a beer snob out there that could decypher a stout and porter if given them in a blind taste test. I love em both, but I'm just curious.

 

Guinness actually has the same viscosity as water. So his statement has some validity. Its the misconception that our brains tell us they are thick based on the complexity of their flavors, when in actually many are not.

 

Try "George Washington's Tavern Porter" by Yards Brewery

 

One of the best session brews I know, that my wife and I totally agree on (always a bonus) is Sierra Nevada Porter.

 

I just did a side by side of sierra nevada stout w/ sierra porter. I think the porter tastes better but the truth is i just can't see a need to distinguish between the two styles. I used to always go for stouts and seldom liked the porters I tried, which were admittedly way fewer. I've gotten a few more porters under my belt now, and feel like they are interchangeable words at this point. There probably are more solid stouts out there than porters, but that's because breweries by and large aren't brewing porters (or what are being marketed as porters). And you don't see porters all tricked out with coffee, and chocklate, and imperialized, etc. So porters don't get a lot of attention or love on BA, but their simplicity is part of their charm. I'd be interested in anyone else's comments after comparing a stout and porter from the same brewery too.

 

Black Butte not Black Butter. I recommend that one too. It's a staple at my house from late fall until spring.

 

I prefer low ABV I woould say 4 out of 5 times, so I can go for something like Eugene Porter porter for something lowerish abv than a stout.

 

It depends on how it tastes. I enjoy both styles. Smuttynose Porter is really good.

 

Porter is the brew that turned the worm for me for darker beers. It was back in the mid 90's on a Sunday night at the Northampton Brewery (MA), their special of the night was their porter. Cheap pints were consumed. Many, many pints of very good fresh porter. There is a certain point when the switch is flicked for you, and that was my moment. Do your homework and start making a point to try the ones you haven't had. That's a labor of love! Keep trying different brewers. You will have that 'wow' moment, and when you do, you'll understand. In the end, there are styles I like less than others, but there is always one new beer that I try that gives me a go-to for that style. It sounds like you haven't found that go-to for porter yet. Keep hunting -- that's the fun.

 

I wasn't a huge Porter fan, but try a Evil Twin LiL'B and tell me Porter's have no place in the beer pantheon

 

Because Stone Smoked Porter.

 

It's a little like asking with so many great pale ales out there, why settle for an extra pale? There are a lot of reasons, but it all gets down to what you want to drink at the time.

It's a subjective topic, but for me a porter has less body than a stout, and milder flavors. They are also typically more sessionable. The mild flavors lend the beer to the addition of spices, if the brewer were a mind to. The point where I might part company with the porter is on the subject of an imperial porter, if there were such a thing. To me an imperial porter would be a stout.

It may also be the case that brewers are looking at the different styles to differentiate their products. It's already been mentioned that Sierra Nevada brews both a porter and a stout, and they no doubt use the style as a point of differentiation. If you have ever gone side-by-side with Deschutes Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout I think the differences are apparent. The stout has more body, and a richer darker flavor. The porter has many of the same characteristics, but it's lighter and perhaps more easy drinking. Indeed you could hand me a pint of either, and I could tell you which it was, probably on appearance alone.

So to answer the question, "why ever settle for a porter?" I'm not sure I'd call it "settling" but if I wanted a dark roasty flavored but sessionable beer with a medium body, I'd go for a porter, and not call it "settling" at all.

If I were going to have a beer or two and wanted a thick body and very rich flavor, I'd opt for the stout.

I like them both in different settings.

 

Stout is a generic term...just sayin.

Anyways, how are porters sessionable? Most I've seen are at least 6%...not sessionable, IMO.

Here is the difference that I've experienced: stouts tend to be more dry, slightly more bubbly, harsh body.

Porters (at least the ones I've had) always have a lusciously smooth feel to them, and they tend to be a bit sweeter.

 

Sierra Nevada Porter, Anchor Porter, and Mogli from Caldera are all damned good porters...and beers.

 

Because English Brown Porters and Baltic Porters. That's why.

 

Real Ale Coffee Porter seasonal is out now and in my glass whenever I see it on the wall. So good.

 

Victory. At. Sea.

 

.....because they taste good??

 

I wouldn't want to characterise Americans from the few I have met (and I have found them all friendly and courteous by the way!) , it's too small a sample.
Yet people seem happy to state a difference between Stout and Porter based upon their own limited experience even though people who have researched the topic thoroughly conclude that there is no difference either now or in the last couple of centuries.

 

Alaskan Smoked Porter. Not a porter, more of a stout. One of the craziest flavor profiles I have ever experienced in a beer. Very tasty too.