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"General Rules" re: Porters vs. Stouts, Sweetness

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by Bluecane, Mar 2, 2012.

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  1. Bluecane

    Bluecane Initiate (0) Dec 30, 2011 New York

    I've seen the debates about the lines being blurred between Porters and Stouts. Yet, it seems to be a general rule that porters shouldn't aged much if at all, while many feel that stouts should be aged at least 6-12 months or more (depending on the specific beer, of course).

    Am I misconstruing the rules of thumb here? If I'm not, then the two sentences above are inherently contradictory.

    As a separate question, is it a general rule that beers get sweeter as they age? I ask with the Black Boss Porter in mind. It's a 9.4% ABV Baltic Porter. Reviews say it's sweet, and some also mention that it's a little boozy and rough around the edges. Would this beer do well to age? What about other beers that are already sweet (working on the assumption that I/we don't want a beer to be too sweet).
     
    #1 Bluecane, Mar 2, 2012
  2. nathanjohnson

    nathanjohnson Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2007 Vermont

    There is no practical difference between porters and stouts. One of the reasons why porters are not recommended for aging is that they tend to be a bit lower in ABV than their stout breathren. Typically, beers perceived sweetness with increase due to the bittering nature of hops starts to fade. Also, added flavors can also bring bitterness, such as coffee. Coffee flavors tend to fall out relatively quickly, and thus changing the sweetness/bitterness ratio.
     
    #2 nathanjohnson, Mar 2, 2012
  3. WastingFreetime

    WastingFreetime Initiate (0) Feb 12, 2011 Wisconsin

    I would say to give it a shot and report back on the forums. "Booziness" and "Roughness around the edges" are actually properties that commonly smooth out over time in the cellar. If these aspects of the beer are not desirable for you, than go ahead and cellar it. But first of all, you should make sure that you've tried it fresh and even perhaps keep notes of your impressions for a proper comparison. Without the baseline comparison, there is little to no point in (deliberately) aging a beer because you won't be able to tell whether the changes that occur are moving towards or away from your target goal.
     
    #3 WastingFreetime, Mar 3, 2012
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  4. Pahn

    Pahn Initiate (0) Dec 2, 2009 New York

    the difference between a porter and a stout is (exactly) what the brewer decides to call the beer. it's hard to even generalize whether most brewers call their lower ABV beers "porters" and the higher ones "stouts" since there's so many counterexamples on both ends.

    since there's no good porter / stout distinction, there can't be a good general rule about the differences between aging porters vs stouts.
     
    #4 Pahn, Mar 3, 2012
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  5. Bluecane

    Bluecane Initiate (0) Dec 30, 2011 New York

    Exactly. I felt like I've seen people making one, which is why I was wondering about that.

    WFT is right: I should get at least 2x each beer, aging one while drinking the other fresh, and see how I like it.

    Because I'm pretty new to this, I've generally just been trying 1 of each beer, but I should try and grab multiples. Aging the only 1 I have isn't a total loss, because if it tastes good/better, then it tastes good/better. But, it'd be cool to see the contrast, of course.
     
    #5 Bluecane, Mar 3, 2012
  6. EricCioe

    EricCioe Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2010 Montana

    You're not talking about the same thing. There aren't many people out there laying down Bell's Kalamazoo Stout or Deschutes Obsidian Stout. Most of the stouts being aged are imperial stouts over 8%. Porters of the same heft can be aged just as well.
     
    #6 EricCioe, Mar 3, 2012
  7. Bluecane

    Bluecane Initiate (0) Dec 30, 2011 New York

    I'm not sure exactly where I was unclear, but I definitely understand what you're saying. I'm not saying anyone in particular, or even this board, does a poor job of making that distinction -- that "porters of the same heft can be aged just as well" -- just that I've definitely heard it, and I was confirming that it doesn't make much sense without that extra bit.
     
    #7 Bluecane, Mar 3, 2012
  8. bulletrain76

    bulletrain76 Maven (1,299) Nov 6, 2007 California

    If it's not high alcohol (like 8% minimum), then more than a couple months is only going to hurt it in the vast majority of cases. Imperial stouts/porters and baltic porters can age well, but everything else is very likely to just taste stale after a significant period of time.
     
    #8 bulletrain76, Mar 4, 2012
  9. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    There are porters that are very suitable for aging. Just look at the Black Butte reserve series.
     
    #9 UCLABrewN84, Mar 5, 2012
  10. dumptruck81

    dumptruck81 Initiate (0) Dec 28, 2011 Texas

    In general I'd agree that it's usually the higher abv stuff that ages well. There are definitely exceptions though, like alaskan smoked porter @ 6.5% ages well.
     
    #10 dumptruck81, Mar 5, 2012
    UCLABrewN84 likes this.
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