Black Ale / Porter / Stout

Imperial Stout for sure

 

My only input would be that most Stouts (a true stout in my opinion) should be over 8 % ABV. all should be sweetand roasty
when i read Black Ale on my beer label, i think more of a German Schwartz flavor profile, dark roasty but thinner with a more Hop bite than roasted malt bitterness.when you get into the imperal stotu, i perfer over 10% ABV and a thick mouth feel that
coats as you swallow.

 

8% ABV and higher is an Imperial Stout. Schwarzbier has no hop bite. You got it all wrong.
Black Ale = Black IPA

I see some beers that are labeled Hefeweizen, but are clearly American Pale Wheat Ale.

 

I'm just glad others have noted the potentially confusing "black ale" at the bottom of Green Flash's Double Stout label. Sure, a stout is a "black" (or very dark) ale if we drill down to the most basic of stylistic guidelines... but the phrase "black ale" seems more apropos for a black IPA.

 

As you can see i did say in my opinion. and all the German Schawatrz i had very much remind me more of a Black IPA then a porter or stout.
this is all a matter of opinion as any brewey can call any beer whatever they want. I really do not think there is a true differance or ever was between a Porter and a stout.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/difference-between-a-stout-and-a-porter.127360/

 

Black ale / cascadian ale / black ipa = Kind of the hot mess of dark ales when done badly. i.e. turn the below beers up to 11.
porter = medium hop bitterness, and a bit more malt chew chew.
Stout = mild hop bitterness, and more chewy malt yum yum and aroma and a bit more smooth for overall profile.
These are all completely interchangeable though cos that's how good beer rolls.

 

Very well put, I also think the beers get fuller bodied from Black Ales to Porters to Stouts

 

Not sure why so many around here thinks stouts need to be higher in alcohol. This type of thinking is definitely a modern phenomenon and people are missing out on a ton of great low/lower abv stouts if they are skipping beers based on this criterion.

Also, when I think of German Schwartz flavor, I generally don't think of an ale at all, as Schwarzbier obviously isn't one.

 

Does anyone else think the term Black India PALE Ale makes no sense? How exactly can something be black and pale? Sorry Im sure this has been gone over before somewhere here.

 

Prove it!

 

I've seen these stout/porter threads over the years and they go on forever. Basically there is no clear distinction between the two. If they want to call it a stout it's a stout, if they decide it's a porter, it's a porter. I don't know I just drink it. Black Ale? Who the hell knows? All I know is this can go on for months without a resolution.

 

I suspect that most stouts in Great Britain are less than 5% ABV.

 

^This.

@MNAle Here's the real problem though... any "rule" someone suggests for separating these labels into different styles will not hold up to current well-known examples of available beers. There will be common examples that break the rules, as has already been shown above. So, after you fight through several iterations of proposed and refuted rules, you will be left with only one logical answer: It's whatever the brewer decides to call their "darker" beer. You'll just have to drink it to find out.

 

Yup. And at the end of the day what difference does it really make? Why does anyone really give a shit what neat little compartment there black beer fits into?

 

I agree, but beer labels/classifications are confusing, often unnecessarily so, therefore many people unstandably attempt to apply rigid classifications to bring some sense of order to the beer world. The irony/paradox is that beer classifications are easier to navigate when you give up on rigid rules. It's like the old saying of missing the forest through the trees.

 

Don't really know where black ales fall into the mix, but this is a good article on the difference between a porter and stout. A lot of brewmasters from some great breweries say there's virtually no difference between the two:

http://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com...t-is-the-difference-between-porter-and-stout/

 

Don't give up. See how deep the rabbit hole goes. Probably about four hundred posts.

 

They all have some degree of roasted malts... the rest is marketing magic! I'm being facetious, of course, but there is truth there... it is what the brewer calls it and they might decide on a beer name for many reasons, not necessarily related to the contents of the beer.

You can try to go down the classification rabbit hole as many others have, but you'll drive yourself crazy with all the exceptions to the rules you'll encounter. I also believe it is a disservice to the beer and brewer to force unnecessary rules on the beer, and judge it by an arbitrary standard the brewer never intended.