What is the difference between porter and stout

The difference is hard to pinpoint. The legend of the Porter goes back to England, circa Rumour has it that the Porter was concocted by barman Ralph Harwood in a dark and rowdy London pub frequented by nearby porters men whose job was to transport goods unloaded from ships to businesses in the heart of London. In response to the demand by the porters for a pint unlike any other, Ralph mixed together stale and fresh beer, the result: a dark, malty, medium-bodied brew.

Yep, you got it, The ladder part of the name was dropped eventually and that is how the Stout came to be. This Stout craze left the porter to nearly disappear in the coming years, but luckily with the rise of craft breweries, the Porter was revived.

Today, brewers are all pretty mixed on what the difference is between a stout and a porter. BUT there is one thing they can mostly all agree on, the type of malt that should be used to brew each type of beer.

Porters use dark malted barley and stouts are utilized unmalted roasted barley or black malt. The type of malt used can make a big difference in the flavour profile of a beer. This porter is dark brown to black, with little clarity. The flavor is medium-sweet to dry, depending on the brew. It is substantially dark. Although very similar to a stout, it lacks the roasted barley character that the stout has. This has an ABV of 4. An example of this would be Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

It is medium brown to dark brown, and there should be fair to good clarity. It has a mild to moderate roasted malt flavor and varies in bitterness. This is a fairly substantially dark ale. It has softer flavors and usually less alcohol than the robust porter, with an ABV of 3. The dry stout has prominent roasted barley and roasted malt aromas. It is black and with no clarity. There is a moderate amount of sharpness in the flavor.

This would have medium to high hop bitterness, which provides a dry finish. This has an ABV of 3. But unlike the dry stout, this has medium to high sweetness.

The hopping is moderate and tends to be lower than the dry stout, which emphasizes the malt sweetness. Lactose is sometimes added to the sweet stout for additional residual sweetness. High carbonate water is essential for this type of stout. This typically has an ABV of 3. The oatmeal stout has mild roasted grain aromas, with low to medium fruitiness. It has medium to no diacetyl, and little to no hop aroma.

Oatmeal stout is black with a thick and creamy head. It has a medium sweet to medium dry flavor profile. The complexity of dark roasted grains is prominent.

There is medium hop bitterness with the balance being toward malt it may have a slight nuttiness. It is full-bodied, smooth, and silky. Not to mention, it has an oily or mealy texture due to its oatmeal character. They were essentially more robust brown ales, designed to be ready to drink upon delivery. Until this time, most beer barrels were delivered young and required aging by publicans prior to serving.

The early London Porters were also strong beers by modern standards, traditionally around 6. The extreme popularity of the style prompted brewers to release different Porters of varying characteristics. One of the first of these was a strong brew which was christened Single Stout Porter. So to put it simply, originally a Stout was a strong Porter. Double, Triple and Imperial Stout Porters soon followed.