Porter vs. Stout

Has this topic come up before? I hadn't noticed.

 

Sure you have!

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/porters-and-stouts.58422/#post-787882

Cheers!

 

I always recommend Smuttynose too if you can find it

 

i want to propose a ban on this topic. Or better yet, a sticky that reads: "Do a search before you post"

 

A true craftbeer drinker; a porter is light and refreshing. Cheers to you, friend of beer! (I'm serious)

 

Porter vs Stout?
Only one way to find out:
FIGHT!!

 

Some claim that the primary difference between a porter and a stout is in the number of letters, while other stress the number of syllables.

We may never know which is true.

 

No, don't remember that.

 

In that case I am happy that I could remind you that you participated in that thread discussion.

Cheers!

 

ha, no sweat. I suppose i could have been less snarky in my response, poor (but quite common) forum etiquette on my part.

Cheers

 

Shouldn't that be: 'Water is to milk as porter is to stout.' ?

 

I resolved this by doing a side by side of Sierra Nevada Stout and Porter. They are not the same beer but they are the same style. Ino there is more difference between Sierra Nevada's two IPA, Torpedo and Celebration than there is between the Stuot and Porter.

 

I would say that stouts are thick, consistency wise, like milk is. Water is thinner like porters compared to stouts.

 

Historically, yes Stout is a more robust variant of the Porter.

Nowadays however, Porters are usually more geared towards a Chocolate profile while Stouts go for a Coffee dominated profile. Of course, Americans being the quintessential experimentalists they are, their Porters and Stouts will usually have plenty of both coffee and chocolate so the line gets blurry.

If you drink British Porters and Stouts you'll see more clearly the difference i pointed out. Oh, the grain bills of both Stouts and Porters will (usually) also validate this. Stouts usually go heavier on Roasted Barley (lends coffee flavours) while Porters usually go for the Chocolate malt.

 

I don't know where you tried your British ones but I've drunk them whenever I find them and I can assure you that there are absolutely no distinguishing features between them.At all.And I've tried rather a lot. Neither would I expect to find any differences.

 

Not my experience, if I'm honest. Maybe i can pick up on it more easily since I've brewed beers with varying degrees of Chocolate and Coffee, probably.

 

Porters came first, stouts are a derivative of the porter, stouts usually have more roasted barley (porters can too but it's atypical), overall stouts tend to be stronger but because of our beloved American Craft Brewers that line can be blurred and sometimes the only difference can be what they're called on the label by the brewer.