WHAT MAKES IT A PORTER

[trucker5774]

As the title say................ Is it just a strong dark beer? Any opinions? (not even sure I have posted in the correct section) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_%28beer%29

[WishboneBrewery]

the Name!
What is the real difference between a Dark Mild, Porter & a Stout? Not a lot in my opinion.
But beer is good, isn't it

[DarloDave]

Porter - A weaker stout

[boingy]

It doesn't have to be particularly strong. It's sort of halfway between a bitter and a stout. In fact I think stout used to be called "stout porter".

[trucker5774]

It doesn't have to be particularly strong. It's sort of halfway between a bitter and a stout. In fact I think stout used to be called "stout porter".

Ahh you had a sneaky look at the link I posted to wiki

[lupulin]

the Name!
What is the real difference between a Dark Mild, Porter & a Stout? Not a lot in my opinion.
But beer is good, isn't it

Beer is good.

I believe beer writer Michael Jackson said something along the lines of "it is what the brewer decides it is" because most of the divisions are somewhat arbitrary. In practice I think porters are less hop-bitter and less roasty than stouts. Most seem to have a bit more caramel and sweetness, too. Of course you'll probably get as many answers as there are brewers on a question like that.

[DarloDave]

http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2009/03 ... and-stout/

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2007 ... stout.html


both well worth a read

[Eadweard]

According to the excellent Martyn Cornell there's no difference between porter and stout: http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2009/03 ... and-stout/

Edit: I see I was beaten to it!

[DarloDave]

Pattinson found that that in most cases, stouts and porters were brewed from the same grist, only difference is the stout will have had less water added, making it a stronger version of the porter

[unclepumble]

Bugger all difference, Porter came first then some goon started calling his porter stout to make it seem different to all the other beers out there.

A bit like the people calling their beers IPA, none of em come close to IPA, cos they don't ship em half way round the world in sailing ships for months etc etc, And american IPA thats just :. annoying. Its superhopped pale ale not IPA, nobody makes IPA any more,Pale ale brewed in the IPA style without the maritime conditioning maybe but not IPA. (dont throw brewdog atlantic etc at me)

UP

[Spud395]

I reckon UP got it in one.
There's Porter, some of its stout (strong), some of it's mild and some of it's just porter.
Then again whatever you want to call it is fine as well, I just might make a strong mild!

[coatesg]

Porter was the original dark drink made from old style brown malt (blown malt). This turned towards using pale and brown and then pale and black for reasons of efficiency and cost. "Stout" meant strong - and hence stouts were strong porters. Over the course of the last century, things changed (world wars, the rise of the accountant) and now we have stouts that are weaker than porters. I find that some porters taste like dark old ales too where the colour is mostly from a small addition of black and choc.

For me, brown and chocolate malts tend to point me towards porter territory, and I often think "less smooth" than a stout, but the lines are very blurred - Hook Norton Double stout is a good example for me - made with pale, brown and black malt, it tastes stout-like to me, but has the same malts I would expect to find in a porter.

[raiderman]

Historically I understood irish porter to be derived from a second mash of stout - flavoured with brown malts - a process a bit like english brewers making the first milds; but i thought london porters were dark ales brewed from brown malts before pale malts took over. Either way, they shouldn't be too dominated by black malts or barley and should feature brown or chocolate and as with a mild should have a background bitterness which isn't over assertive. They can be dry or have a residual sweetness, but should be full bodied. when I brew Porters I aim for a strong mild and use my own wild hops for bittering.

[Rookie]

When I brew a stout I use roast barley and maybe some chocolate malt. When I brew a porter I don't use any of the roast barley.

[Madbrewer]

..... I thought it got it's name from the Hotel Porters who basically got jugs full of 'mixed' beers some old and some young from nearby bars. Generally it was dark in colour as the beers of the time were. It was possibly a range of anything from brown ale to stout which had been mixed.