Looking to get into Stouts & Porters

Chocolate stouts might be a decent style of stout or porter to consider.

 

Sierra Nevada Stout and Porter are as good a place to start as any.

 

Founder's Breakfast Stout opened my eyes to what a stout can truly offer.

 

Try King Titus by Maine Beer Company. Not an overwhelming porter by any means, just very balanced and flavorful. Little to no coffee flavor.

 

Heretic's Shallow Grave Porter is one of the first porters that really got me into the style. I've always been into stouts, at least of the dry irish variety. For other stouts, I think what got me into some of the other stuff was Young's Double Chocolate, Deschutes Obsidian, Alesmith Speedway Stout and Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout.

 

I'm not sure I'd recommend that to someone that doesn't like coffee though, even though it is a bit sweeter than some others. Has Deschutes made it to NJ yet? If so, check out Black Butte - it's a perfect, creamy, simple porter in my opinion. Another one that I know you can get is Boulder's Shake Porter. It's dessert in a bottle, very, very chocolatey.

 

I dont like coffee as well anymore. So I like stouts that are thick with a lot of tastes like Huna or Darkness or Abraxas. Umm more everyday ones like Tenfiddy and Bell Expedition Stout. I think Porters are thin, best with food. I avoid coffee or Espresso stouts most of the time. Cheers

 

I don't like coffee either but over the years I grown to like coffee stouts. I think its mostly due to the fact that I drink a lot of stouts. Left Hand Milk Stout (regular in the bottle, Nitro on draft), Great Divide Yeti (Regular and Chocolate Oak Aged), New Holland The Poet, Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat (Regular and with Vanillia), Tallgrass Zombie Monkey, Trillium Double Pot and Kettle Oatmeal Stout, Upland Teddy Bear Kisses, Three Floyds (Moloko, Blackmasking and Blot out the Sun), Against the Grain 35K (if you can find 70k on draft its awesome), Smuttynose Robust Porter (My favorite Porter), 4 Hands (Cast Iron Oatmeal Stout and Milk Stout), Not a stout but it should be lol Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager, West Sixth Cocoa Porter, Breckenridge Vanilla Nitro Porter on Draft, Sierra Nevada Narwhal, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, Epic and Clown Shoes Stouts, Haven't had it in a couple of years Southern Tier Choklat

If you will try one coffee stout get Founders Breakfast stout (My highest rated stout)

 

Ohhh and EvilTwin I Love You With My Stout is GREAT for the price.....

 

Im drinking a Nitro now. Very smooth and non-coffee in my opinion.

 

Maybe start around the edges with hefty brown ales, too. Dogfish Head Indian Brown is pretty chocolatey/roasty and hoppy as well. Avery Ellie's Brown Ale is also up there.

I'm mostly thinking of what my brother enjoys, because he's not too into coffee flavors in beer either. He will drink up Bourbon County Stout like it's going out of style, fwiw- so keep that in mind for next year.

 

Oops ill drink the heck out of Bourbon County Coffee Stout as well...yumm tho

 

For a Porter, no better place to start than Founders Porter. anchor also makes a very tasty entry level porter.

For stouts, if you don't like coffee, and want to start with something that's not overwhelming, go for Samuel Smiths Imperial stout. If you like that, and I think you will, next try Old Rasputin. Then, if you want to try something bigger, go for Bells Expedition and Founders Imperial Stout.

You're welcome!

 

Stouts, mainly imperial stouts are my favorite kind of beer. I'm pretty new to craft beer so I've only tried a fraction of what most of the guys above (and below) me have suggested. I will recommend some that I've enjoyed, though. Every stout I've had from Three Floyds has been good. Blot Out the Sun was probably the best beer I've ever had. Moloko and Backmasking, while different from each other, were both good. Moloko has more coffee flavor, which I liked. Backmasking, not so much. More chocolate and spice than anything.

Victory's Storm King is also a great stout. A bit of coffee from what I remember, but not overwhelming.

Good luck!

 

I've found that even though I don't like coffee, I actually don't mind the roasty "coffee-like" flavors/smells in darker beers. I guess it's because I think some coffee smells good even though I don't like the taste of it, and the "coffee-like" flavor/smell I get in porters and stouts is more like the smell of coffee rather than what it actually tastes like. I'm guessing it's because the barley used in those beers is roasted, and coffee beans are also roasted, so it's just a general "dark roasted" thing that I'm processing as "coffee-like" only because that was where I first noticed it.

So there's that--it may still be a good idea to avoid beers that are actually infused with coffee in one way or another (I know that's what I've done so far, though I plan on going out on a limb and finally trying a coffee beer when the weather warms up and I can get together with a friend who has access to a Kroger that does mixed six-packs), but don't necessarily try to avoid those "coffee-like" roasty smells/flavors as a whole because you might end up liking them in beer even though you don't like coffee itself.

 

I will echo two sentiments. A nice brown will break you into the dark side. Also Storm King is a big stout but is a lot hoppier than most. If you like IPA's this may where to start.

 

Came here to say storm king. Guy seems to like hops, so this was my first thought in terms of stouts. A great beer.

 

Try nitro stouts on tap - the nitrogen scavenges out some of the bitterness from the roast and produces a very tasty creaminess. Several people have mentioned chocolate stouts which can be pretty easy to drink. My wife hates dark beer but has no problem with bourbon barrel aged stouts.

 

I like Storm King a lot, but it's so hoppy that I think of it more as a black IPA than a stout. I know it's classified in this site as an imperial stout, but I just don't think it's very representative of the style. Stil a great beer, though.