A porter is a type of dark beer that was developed in London, England in the 1700s. Porters are made out of malted barley, and are often brewed through top-fermentation with ale yeast, which means the fermentation occurs near the top of the tank.
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What classifies a porter beer?
Defining the difference – Today there are many different styles of Porters and Stouts, each with their own signature characteristics. But to put it simply, Porters are generally lighter in colour and alcohol than Stouts with a range of chocolate, coffee and caramel flavours, but without the burnt, roasty qualities usually reserved for Stouts.
According to the Beer Judge Certification Program a Stout is defined as “a very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale,” while a Porter is described as “a substantial, malty dark ale with a complex and flavourful character.” Shaun Salyards, lead development brewer at The Fort Collins Brewery in Colorado, which produces a year-round Chocolate Stout, has this to say on the matter; “The easiest way to separate the two in my mind is by the presence of roasted malt, which is a range of malt that creates dominantly coffee flavours.
Basically a Stout has roasted malts and associated flavours, whereas a Porter does not.”
What is the difference between beer and porter?
Porter Versus Stout: What’s the Difference? By Layla Khoury-Hanold for Food Network Kitchen Layla Khoury-Hanold is a contributor at Food Network In the glass, porter and stout look similar. But there’s more to these popular dark ales than meets the eye.
To help us break down the differences between porters and stouts as well as popular types of each style, we consulted Alia Midoun, head brewer at, a craft brewery in Asheville, North Carolina. Stouts are beers brewed with un-malted roasted barley. “Stouts are ales that are traditionally categorized by their dark, roasted profile,” Midoun says.
“Within the category of stouts, there are a variety of options to choose from, which can range from dry to creamy, sweet to bitter, fruity or nutty.” Because recipe formulation in craft beer is always evolving, styles within the category have become more diverse and are sometimes difficult to categorize.
- And some stouts bridge several sub-categories of stout at once.
- That said, Midoun says, “One thing that is for certain is that when you are drinking a stout, you are settling with a beautifully complex and bold beer.” “The average person will immediately remind you of Guinness, a tried-and-true classic Irish stout, dry and formulaically simple, yet deeply roasted and complex in its own right.
While Guinness was one of the original trailblazers for the stout category, today many folks flock to much stronger and richer varieties,” Midoun says. Midoun notes that imperial stouts, named for their high alcohol content, are among the most popular types of stouts today.
She reports that most imperial stouts are also deeply adjuncted—meaning they have added flavor and aromatic ingredients besides the standard required elements of grain, hops and yeast. “An example of common adjuncts in beer are cocoa nibs, coffee, coconut or fruit additions,” she says. Many imperial stouts fall under the category of pastry or dessert stouts, which inspires the choice of added ingredients and are brewed to skew sweeter.
Case in point: Burial’s Untold Volumes of Belligerent Indecision, an imperial stout that clocks in at 14 percent ABV (alcohol by volume), is brewed with roasted pistachios, a blend of vanilla beans, cinnamon and coffee. The product description calls to mind “a pistachio cannoli coated in a cinnamon sugar glaze.” Coffee’s layered bitter, toasty flavor profile is a natural match for stout’s roasted, malt-driven flavor profile.
Burial’s Skillet and Griddle is both a coffee stout and imperial counterpart that Midoun describes as being “packed with strong roast and chocolate character, some balanced notes of brown sugar and dates, and a generous dose of coffee beans.” As the name implies, oatmeal stouts are those that are brewed with the addition of oats to the mash.
“These beers lean more thick, often with a velvety mouthfeel from the oats, and of course, a very familiar oatmeal distinct characteristic in flavor and aroma,” Midoun says. Milk stouts are those that have lactose or milk sugar added to the beer. Midoun says that this produces a richer, more decadent and creamier flavor and mouthfeel, having a similar effect as adding milk or half and half to your coffee.
- Barrel-aged stouts are those that are aged in re-purposed wood barrels from distilleries (most often bourbon barrels) or wineries.
- Depending on the type of barrel that a given beer is being aged in, the flavor profile can come with an array of characteristics, including, but not limited to, woodiness or oak, attributes of the barrel-type, such as bourbon or rum, richer and deeper notes of chocolate, caramel, dark fruit, often even cherry and vanilla,” Midoun says.
She adds that these beers are typically robust, higher in alcohol content, ranging from 12 to 15 percent ABV and offer a similar, slow-sipping experience to that of Scotch. One of Burial’s latest holiday releases is Houtenhammer, a double bourbon barrel-aged stout that is aged in two different barrels to maximize flavor.
Porters are beers that are brewed with malted barley. “Porters, while malt-driven, tend to be more light-bodied and light-colored than a stout, rarely appearing black the way a stout would,” Midoun says. “Once again, through the changes and development of new practices in making beer, we can find a wide range of porters.
Traditionally, these beers are expected to be more easy drinking while still maintaining the complexity of dark malt, making them toasty, nutty, sometimes presenting dark fruit, but low ABV for every-occasion enjoyment.” Like stouts, Midoun notes that lately, porters also seem to lean to a more dominantly adjuncted category.
“While stouts are often adjuncted with heavier and more flavor dominant ingredients, many brewers tend to lean more towards lighter, herbal and accentuated additions,” Midoun says. Burial has experimented with different additions to its porter line-up, but the most popular ones have been those adjuncted with coffee or coconut, such as Burial’s series The Beginning is After the End and The End Comes Before the Beginning.
“While these beers both have been made with ingredients beyond malt and hops, they still maintain their light body and low ABV, making them very quaffable,” Midoun says. There are a variety of different styles of porters, including Brown, Robust and Baltic.
- When it comes to each of them, they are going to have notes that are often toasty, caramelly and bready, carried with coffee roast, chocolate and sometimes even dark fruit, such as raisins,” Midoun says.
- A brown porter uses the same recipe formulation with brown malt but incorporates additional grains such as barley or caramel malt to amplify the brown ale’s initial characteristics, such as roast and chocolate.
“Brown porters were traditionally an elevation of English brown ales—which, while using the malt of its namesake, were often more light-bodied than a porter,” Midoun explains. “A brown porter would use the same recipe formulation with brown malt, but additional grains to accentuate the brown ale’s original characteristics, as well as elevate the ABV, landing somewhere between 4 to 5%.” That said, Midoun says that brown porter is a classic distinction for an English style ale used by “old world breweries” and not one typically used by modern breweries.
Robust porters land somewhere between the traditional baseline porter and a stout. “They are stronger, roastier, hoppier and trending slightly upward in ABV, between 4.8 to 6.5%.” As the name suggests, robust porters are robust in flavor. “It is much more likely that the porters you will find today at a craft brewery can be defined as a robust porter, as many brewers tend to up the complexity of porters exponentially now by increasing their grain load and varieties of grain-type in a recipe,” Midoun says.
Just as with other beverage categories, there are regional variations in beer styles that bear the regions in their name. Baltic porters were originally made in countries around the Baltic Sea. “These porters are considered higher gravity (ABV) than our robust porters, ranging from 7 to 9%, and recognized for having a very strong dark roast backbone, similar to a Schwarzbier,” Midoun says.
They are often matched with notes of caramel and toffee, and even sometimes nutty or have subtle dark fruit notes. Furthermore, Midoun notes that Baltic porters are traditionally made with lager yeast and cold-fermented, so technically it makes them lagers, whereas most porters are made with ale yeast.
As with other regional styles, Baltic porters are meant to be crafted with regionally specific malts and hops. “Some would even go so far as to change their water table through salt treatments in the mash to mimic the region’s water. However, much like many say Champagne is not Champagne if it is not made in the region of France, there are many who argue the same for region-specific styles, such as Baltic porters,” Midoun says.
- Both porters and stouts are dark beers that are brewed with barley.
- The biggest difference between them is that porters are made with malted barley and stouts are made with un-malted roasted barley.
- Porters tend to be more light-bodied with a nice balance of malty sweetness and bitter hoppiness, lighter in color, often lower ABV and generally more drinkable than Stouts—however, not always true! Stouts are darker, bolder and tend to pack more of a flavor punch.
When defining the differences between porter and stout, there’s an important historical distinction to note too. “We have to remember that originally beer was brewed based on what was available. Back when the Sumerians were making beer, they didn’t have the technology that we have today.
Even our medieval predecessors were roasting malt over an open flame,” Midoun says. “Historically speaking, beers started off darker due to the lack of technology, and only evolved to become lighter as new techniques were developed. Think of a festbier, this style began as a dunkel and evolved many times, and now today is commonly brewed as a helles.” As a result, Midoun says there’s an assumption that porter came from stout, since stout is the darker of the two.
But that’s a misconception. “Porters were descendants of brown ales, which was the primary English ale at a time before pale malt production,” Midoun says. “Stouts only came after porters, through recipe development in pursuit of a stronger, more full-bodied beer—in fact, stout was at one time considered a genre of porter.” Matt Armendariz, Copyright 2015 Both styles can be used in baking and cooking applications.
- Braising meat with either style is very common and is solely based on the cook’s intention and flavors they would like to achieve,” she says.
- The same goes for baking—if one decides to make bread, what kind of bread are we making? It is nutty, toasted, sweet, fruity, grainy? The options are limitless and in the palate of the beholder.
The most important thing is to set the intention and browse your options for what seems best suited for your meal.” Try adding stout to homey dishes such as or, Or lean on stout’s toasty, maltiness to enhance the cocoa and malty notes of chocolate baked goods, like this or (pictured above).
What is the difference between lager and porter beer?
Beer 101: What’s the Difference Between a Port and a Lager? All beers are either lagers or ales (and sometimes hybrid). All beers are fermented from a combination of malts, hops, water and yeast. Whether you have an ale or a lager depends on the brewer’s yeast used and the brewing technique.
- What is a Lager? Lagers originated from Germany.
- Bavarian brewers discovered that “lagering” (aging beer after the initial fermentation) produced a cleaner beer.
- They also realized that such a brew was less susceptible to contamination.
- With time, scientists discovered lager yeast.
- Unlike ale yeasts, lager yeasts flocculate at the bottom of the fermentation tank.
They also thrive at lower temperatures and are more aggressive than ale yeasts. With such aggressive fermentation, lager yeasts leave little or no residual sweetness and flavor. They don’t contribute much to the beer’s aroma or flavor. A combination of lager yeasts and a cold and efficient brewing process produces a simple, clear, clean, and refreshing beer called a lager.
Lagers typically have a light aroma and flavor. A lager is served cold. What is an Ale? Ale is the oldest kind of beer. Ales are fermented with top-fermenting, less aggressive yeasts. They are also aged at higher temperatures and for a shorter period than lagers. The warm and complex brewing process produces complex, flavorful beers.
Ales have a rich aroma and flavor and are usually served closer to room temperature. And what is a Porter? The history of the port remains unverified. However, porters are ales fermented with dark malted barley, hops, and top-fermenting ale yeasts. Once the most popular beer in America and England, Porter has undergone many transformations.
Today, there are many broad interpretations of the brew translating to different tastes. Normally, a porter is very dark, mild flavored and thin but not watery. Porters are also the great-grandfathers of modern stouts. What’s the Difference Between a Port and a Lager? The difference between porters and lagers translates to the difference between lagers and ales.
Apart from the yeast and brewing process, porters and lagers look, smell and taste different. Porters are darker and have a fruitier and spicier flavor than lagers. Porters also tend to be heavier, more robust and complex. Lagers are cleaner and crisper.
- Stay Tuned for the 2016 Edmonton International BeerFest Dates Beer is undoubtedly one of the world’s most popular and loved beverages.
- If you love your beer or want to learn fascinating beer stories, stay tuned for the 2016 Edmonton BeerFest dates.
- There will be over 200 beers available for tasting, and maximum entertainment.
Get your tickets early. Photo Source: Pixabay : Beer 101: What’s the Difference Between a Port and a Lager?
Is Guinness a stout or porter?
Logo from 2005 to 2016 | |
Type | Dry stout ( beer ) |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Diageo |
Country of origin | Ireland |
Introduced | 1759 ; 264 years ago |
Alcohol by volume | 4.2% |
Colour | Black (sometimes described as very dark ruby-red) |
Flavour | Dry |
Website | www,guinness,com |
Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James’s Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 liters (190,000,000 imp gal; 220,000,000 U.S.
- Gal). In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co.
- Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually.
- The Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St.
- James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland.
- Since opening in 2000, it has received over 20 million visitors.
Guinness’s flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour.
- Although Guinness’s palate still features a characteristic “tang”, the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs.
- The draught beer ‘s thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide,
- The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932.
In 1997, Guinness plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based in London.
What makes a stout vs porter?
Porters vs. Stouts Today – As you can see, there’s not necessarily a clear difference between porters and stouts and this is a battle that will likely continue as long as beer keeps being made, or until pigs fly. In the meantime, it’s probably okay to use “porter” and “stout” interchangeably because honestly, no one really knows the difference anyway.
What is Baltic Porter?
The Baltic-style Porter is a smooth, cold-fermented and cold-lagered beer brewed with lager yeast. Because of its alcoholic strength, it may include very low to low complex alcohol flavors and/or lager fruitiness such as berries, grapes and plums (but not banana; ale-like fruitiness from warm-temperature fermentation is not appropriate).
Can a porter be a stout?
Stout vs. Porter – What’s the Difference? – Allagash Brewing Company What exactly is the difference between stout and porter? While there are many varieties of so-called ‘dark beer’ such as schwarzbier, Scotch ale, dark American lager etc., the broad categories of stout and porter are probably the most well known. In reality there are many variations and substantial overlap across the two styles.
- For example, an Irish Stout will generally be a bit more bitter, have less body, and be lighter than some brewers’ take on a porter.
- In the same way that some pale ales seem more like IPAs or vice versa, so is the case with versions of stout and porter.
- One similarity across stouts is they are more likely to contain roasted barley as opposed to most porters (though more robust porters may have some).
Historically speaking, the first of the two styles was porter, born about 300 years ago from the English brown ales of the time. Stouts came after, as stronger, fuller-bodied versions of porters, aka “stout porters.” When a pub offered both a stout and a porter, stout was always the stronger beer.
- Porters and stouts share dark malts, which give them their classic black, or near-black, color.
- Before the advent of modern-day kilning, most beers were on the darker side because grains were frequently roasted over open flames.
- As far as our understanding of the first porter’s ingredients and process goes, we know it was made mostly of such open flamed ‘brown malts,’ and was frequently aged in wood barrels for varying lengths of time.
All of this variation meant porter from batch to batch tasted differently (and maybe had some funky, even sour, barrel aged characteristics). Frequently the beer was blended at the pub where it was served. As the popularity of porter and ‘stout porter’ grew, the styles morphed and changed based on region. Eventually sub-styles of porters/stouts emerged, such as Baltic Porter – a lagered, stronger version that was exported to the Baltics. Nowadays, there are a multitude of different sub categories of both porter and stout.
Some of the most common are English Porter (ex: ), American Porter (ex: ), Baltic Porter (ex: ), Irish Stout (ex: ), Sweet Stout or “Pastry Stout” (ex:, ), American Stout (ex: ), and the big daddy, Russian Imperial Stout (ex: ). We have a couple stouts of our own. is a silky Belgian-inspired stout that balances light notes of fruit and sweetness with roasty malt.
There’s also, a Belgian-style stout that we blend with cold-brewed coffee. This one is a bigger beer, with more body and richness than you’ll find in Allagash Black. By blending it with local, cold-brewed coffee from —and we’re talking a lot of coffee—light nuttiness accompanies hints of chocolate and raisin, while a resounding coffee note weaves its way throughout.
Are porter beers healthier?
What are the healthiest beers? Darker beers, such as stouts and porters, and extra hoppy beers, such as DIPAs and Imperial IPAs are the healthiest, along with Trappist beers and spontaneous fermented beers, such as Lambics and Gose. Light to moderate consumption of beers is associated with the prevention of type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension, dementia, and many types of cancer.
Is Guiness an ale or lager?
Editor’s Note: Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. CNN — Guinness, like other Irish stouts, enjoys a seasonal popularity every St.
Patrick’s Day. It has also been touted as being “good for you,” at least by its own advertising posters decades ago. But can this creamy, rich and filling beer really be added to a list of healthy beverages? Or is its reputation just good marketing? We researched the beer’s history and talked to brewing experts and break out the good, the not-so-great and the ingenuity of Guinness.
The original Guinness is a type of ale known as stout. It’s made from a grist (grain) that includes a large amount of roasted barley, which gives it its intense burnt flavor and very dark color. And though you wouldn’t rank it as healthful as a vegetable, the stouts in general, as well as other beers, may be justified in at least some of their nutritional bragging rights.
According to Charlie Bamforth, a professor of brewing sciences at the University of California, Davis, most beers contain significant amounts of antioxidants, B vitamins, the mineral silicon (which may help protect against osteoporosis), soluble fiber and prebiotics, which promote the growth of “good” bacteria in your gut.
And Guinness may have a slight edge compared with other brews, even over other stouts. “We showed that Guinness contained the most folate of the imported beers we analyzed,” Bamforth said. Folate is a B vitamin that our bodies need to make DNA and other genetic material; it’s also necessary for cells to divide.
According to his research, stouts on average contain 12.8 micrograms of folate, or 3.2% of the recommended daily allowance. “We showed that Guinness contained the most folate of the imported beers we analyzed,” Bamforth said. Folate is a B vitamin that our bodies need to make DNA and other genetic material.
It’s also necessary for cells to divide. According to his research, stouts on average contain 12.8 micrograms of folate, or 3.2% of the recommended daily allowance. Because Guinness contains a lot of unmalted barley, which contains more fiber than malted grain, it is also one of the beers with the highest levels of fiber, according to Bamforth.
Note: Though the USDA lists beer as containing zero grams of fiber, Bamforth said his research shows otherwise.) Bamforth researched and co-authored studies recently published in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing and the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, The Science of Beer.
Here’s more potentially good news about Guinness: Despite its rich flavor and creamy consistency, it’s not the highest in calories compared with other beers. A 12-ounce serving of Guinness Draught has 125 calories. By comparison, the same size serving of Budweiser has 145 calories, a Heineken has 142 calories, and a Samuel Adams Cream Stout has 189 calories.
In the United States, Guinness Extra Stout, by the way, has 149 calories. This makes sense when you consider that alcohol is the main source of calories in beers. Guinness Draught has a lower alcohol content, at 4.2% alcohol by volume (ABV), compared with 5% for Budweiser and Heineken, and 4.9% for the Samuel Adams Cream Stout.
In general, moderate alcohol consumption – defined by the USDA’s dietary guidelines for Americans as no more than two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women – may protect against heart disease. So you can check off another box. Guinness is still alcohol, and consuming too much can impair judgment and contribute to weight gain.
Heavy drinking (considered more than 15 drinks a week for men or more than eight drinks a week for women) and binge drinking (five or more drinks for men, and four or more for women, in about a two-hour period) are also associated with many health problems, including liver disease, pancreatitis and high blood pressure.
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, “alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the United States: 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence along with several million more who engage in risky, binge drinking patterns that could lead to alcohol problems.” And while moderate consumption of alcohol may have heart benefits for some, consumption of alcohol can also increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer for each drink consumed daily.
Many decades ago, in Ireland, it would not have been uncommon for a doctor to advise pregnant and nursing women to drink Guinness. But today, experts (particularly in the United States) caution of the dangers associated with consuming any alcohol while pregnant. “Alcohol is a teratogen, which is something that causes birth defects.
It can cause damage to the fetal brain and other organ systems,” said Dr. Erin Tracy, an OB/GYN at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive gynecology. “We don’t know of any safe dose of alcohol in pregnancy; hence we recommend abstaining entirely during this brief period of time in a woman’s life.” What about beer for breastfeeding? “In Britain, they have it in the culture that drinking Guinness is good for nursing mothers,” said Karl Siebert, professor emeritus of the food science department and previous director of the brewing program at Cornell University.
Beer in general has been regarded as a galactagogue, or stimulant of lactation, for much of history. In fact, according to irishtimes.com, breastfeeding women in Ireland were once given a bottle of Guinness a day in maternity hospitals. According to Domhnall Marnell, the Guinness ambassador, Guinness Original (also known as Guinness Extra Stout, depending on where it was sold) debuted in 1821, and for a time, it contained live yeast, which had a high iron content, so it was given to anemic individuals or nursing mothers then, before the effects of alcohol were fully understood.
Some studies have showed evidence that ingredients in beer can increase prolactin, a hormone necessary for milk production; others have showed the opposite. Regardless of the conclusions, the alcohol in beer also appears to counter the benefits associated with increased prolactin secretion.
The problem is that alcohol temporarily inhibits the milk ejection reflex and overall milk supply, especially when ingested in large amounts, and chronic alcohol use lowers milk supply permanently,” said Diana West, co-author of “The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk.” “Barley can be eaten directly, or even made from commercial barley drinks, which would be less problematic than drinking beer,” West said.
If you’re still not convinced that beer is detrimental to breastfeeding, consider this fact: A nursing mother drinking any type of alcohol puts her baby in potential danger. “The fetal brain is still developing after birth – and since alcohol passes into breast milk, the baby is still at risk,” Tracy said.
- This is something we would not advocate today,” Marnell agreed.
- We would not recommend to anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding to be enjoying our products during this time in their life.” Regarding the old wives’ tale about beer’s effects on breastfeeding, Marnell added, “It’s not something that Guinness has perpetuated and if (people are still saying it), I’d like to say once and for all, it’s not something we support or recommend.” Assuming you are healthy and have the green light to drink beer, you might wonder why Guinness feels like you’ve consumed a meal, despite its lower calorie and alcohol content.
It has to do with the sophistication that goes into producing and pouring Guinness. According to Bamforth, for more than half a century, Guinness has put nitrogen gas into its beer at the packaging stage, which gives smaller, more stable bubbles and delivers a more luscious mouthfeel.
- It also tempers the harsh burnt character coming from the roasted barley.
- Guinness cans, containing a widget to control the pour, also have some nitrogen.
- Guinness is also dispensed through a special tap that uses a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
- In Ireland, Guinness had a long history of hiring the best and brightest university graduates regardless of what they were trained in,” Siebert said.
“And they put them to work on things they needed. One was a special tap for dispensing Guinness, which has 11 different nozzles in it, that helps to form the fine-bubbled foam.” The foam is remarkably long-lasting. “After you get a freshly poured Guinness, you can make a face in the foam, and by the time you finish drinking it, the face is still there,” Siebert said.
The famous advertising Guinness slogans – including “It’s a good day for a Guinness” – started through word of mouth, said Marnell. “In 1929, when we were about to do our first ad, we asked (ourselves), ‘What stance should we take?’ So we sent around a group of marketers (in Ireland and the UK) to ask Guinness drinkers why they chose Guinness, and nine out of 10 said their belief was that the beer was healthy for them.
We already had this reputation in the bars before we uttered a word about the beer. “That led to the Gilroy ads that were posted,” Marnell explained, referring to the artist John Gilroy, responsible for the Guinness ads from 1928 to the 1960s. “You’ll see the characters representing the Guinness brand – the toucan, the pelican – and slogans like ‘Guinness is good for you’ or ‘Guinness for Strength.’ But those were from the 1920s, ’30s and ‘40s.” Today, he said, the company would not claim any health benefits for its beer.
“If anyone is under the impression that there are health benefits to drinking Guinness, then unfortunately, I’m the bearer of bad news. Guinness is not going to build muscle or cure you of influenza.” In fact, Guinness’ parent company, Diageo, spends a lot of effort supporting responsible drinking initiatives and educating consumers about alcohol’s effects.
Its DrinkIQ page offers information such as calories in alcohol, how your body processes it and when alcohol can be dangerous, including during pregnancy. “One of the main things we focus on is that while we would love people to enjoy our beer, we want to make sure they do so as responsibly as possible,” Marnell said.
What makes a beer an IPA?
Is there a difference between a Pale Ale and an IPA? – Pale ale is a broad category of beer that encompasses beers that have a malty flavour and are golden/amber in colour. They include English Pale Ales, American Pales Ales and Blonde Ales. They are thought to originate from the 1700s when English breweries began to make beer using a different type of malt that resulted in a lighter, pale ale.
What does IPA stand for in beer?
IPA: what does it mean? – IPA is an acronym and should be pronounced as I-P-A. The three letters stand for India Pale Ale, which is the full name of the style. Each word needs an explanation. So, let’s start from. the end. Ale is a synonym for top fermented beer, a type of beer that traditional British breweries have always been experts in.
In the United Kingdom, the term Ale also indicates the classic beers of the past, still made by many small independent brewers. Pale can be literally interpreted as “light colored” : Pale Ales started to appear in the 18th century thanks to the innovations introduced in the malting process and took their name because their amber color set them apart from the dark beers that dominated the market at the time.
Pale Ales became increasingly popular, replacing Porters and becoming the typical everyday beers in the second half of the 19th century.
Why is stout called stout?
History – Porter originated in London, England in the early 1720s. The style quickly became popular in the city, especially with porters (hence its name): it had a strong flavour, took longer to spoil than other beers, was significantly cheaper than other beers, and was not easily affected by heat. Originally, the adjective stout meant “proud” or “brave”, but later, after the 14th century, it took on the connotation of “strong”. The first known use of the word stout for beer was in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript, the sense being that a stout beer was a strong beer.
The expression stout porter was applied during the 18th century to strong versions of porter. Stout still meant only “strong” and it could be related to any kind of beer, as long as it was strong: in the UK it was possible to find “stout pale ale”, for example. Later, stout was eventually to be associated only with porter, becoming a synonym of dark beer.
Because of the huge popularity of porters, brewers made them in a variety of strengths. The beers with higher gravities were called “Stout Porters”. There is still division and debate on whether stouts should be a separate style from porter. Usually the only deciding factor is strength.
- Nourishing” and sweet “milk” stouts became popular in Great Britain in the years following the First World War, though their popularity declined towards the end of the 20th century, apart from pockets of local interest such as in Glasgow with Sweetheart Stout.
- Beer writer Michael Jackson wrote about stouts and porters in the 1970s, but in the mid 1980s a survey by What’s Brewing found just 29 brewers in the UK and Channel Islands still making stout, most of them milk stouts.
In the 21st century, stout is making a comeback with a new generation of drinkers, thanks to new products from burgeoning craft and regional brewers,
Why does Porter beer taste like coffee?
What Is The Difference Between Stouts, Porters And Coffee Beer? – Both porters and stouts are dark beers and have an intertwined history dating back to the 18th century. Stouts basically came about from the desire to create a fuller and stronger porter. Though very similar to each other, they generally differ in the following ways:
Porters are brewed with a chocolate-flavoured malt. This gives them a more mellow and creamy character in comparison to stout. Stouts are brewed with a stronger, more deeply-roasted barley malt. This gives them a heavier and more bitter, almost coffee-like, aroma and flavour. Both porters and stouts are popularly used in creating coffee beer, as they naturally complement the added coffee flavour.
Is stout technically a beer?
stout, dark, heavy-bodied beer popular in Great Britain and Ireland, Stouts are stronger versions of mild ale, There are various types, including oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. Popular stouts have included the so-called dry Irish stouts, notably Guinness, Britannica Quiz Beer and Brewing Today the distinction between stout and porter remains unclear. Some brewers may distinguish stout from porter on the basis of dryness, in which the stout is made with unmalted roasted barley (as opposed to malted roasted barley for a porter), or sweetness, in which the stout is made with lactose (as in milk stout).
However, some stout recipes incorporate malted roasts. Moreover, variations on these themes, such as the addition of oats during brewing (oatmeal stout) or the use of very dark malt (chocolate stout), which impart characteristics such as smoothness or flavours and aromas of chocolate, may also be found in porter recipes.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers,
Is Guinness an IPA?
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Why is a stout not a beer?
Don’t Miss A Drop – Get the latest in beer, wine, and cocktail culture sent straight to your inbox. The stout really took off when a brand named Guinness became a household name and many people fell in love with the creamy, luscious libation they started assuming came with drinking a stout. An ad for O’Keefe’s Stout from a 1919 issue of Canadian Grocer. Fast-forward to present day and brewers are pretty mixed on what the main difference actually is between these two beers. That’s because a lot of craft brewers now brew porters that are stronger than most stouts, yet continue to call them porters, and stouts that are weaker than some porters, yet keep calling them stouts.
- Basically it’s become the wild wild west.
- When the magazine Craft Brewing Business actually asked some of the country’s most famous craft brewers this simple question, they basically said as much.
- You can ask any number of brewers this question and get just as many different answers.
- The simple answer is that there really is no difference between the two,” said Luke Purcell of Great Lakes Brewing,
The only main difference many brewers still agree on is the kind of malt that should be used to brew each type of beer. Porters use malted barley and stouts are primarily made from unmalted roasted barley, which is where the coffee flavor most people associate with stout comes from.
But even these rules seem to be somewhat blurry according to brewers. “My approach to a stout would be to use a larger percentage of roasted barley,” Wayne Wambles of the celebrated Cigar City Brewing tells CBB. “I subscribe to the never say never camp, though, so I can’t say that I would never put roasted barley in a porter.
Under certain circumstances, I would consider it.” Yep, as long as there are craft brewers who will continue to experiment, it seems there will never truly be a hard and fast difference between the two. So go with what the label on the bottle says and enjoy whatever you’re drinking, porter or stout, because they’re basically the same thing. A page from the Canadian Grocer in 1907 showcasing Molsons’ range of beers, including their Porter Published: January 30, 2015
Why do stouts taste like coffee?
While porters use malted barley, stouts primarily use unmalted roasted barley. It’s this ingredient that gives stouts their signature coffee-like flavor.
Is a pilsner a type of lager?
What is the difference between a pilsner and a lager? – A pilsner is a lager, but not all lagers are pilsners. Lager is a type of beer conditioned at low temperatures. Lagers can be yellow pale, amber, or dark. Pilsner is a pale lager and is is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer.
What is an ale vs porter vs stout?
So how are brown ales different? – The lines between brown ales and porters or stouts are very gray. One seems to blend into another, and what it is called may be the discretion of the brewer. However, here are a few characteristics that tend to make a beer a brown ale versus a porter or stout:
Color, Brown ales and porters both use brown malts, but brown ales are usually lighter. Most brown ales fall between a translucent amber to a medium brown, while porters and stouts are much darker. The darkness of beer is measured in a process called Standard Reference Method (SRM) by passing light through the beer and measuring the output on a spectrophotometer. Brown ales fall between 12 and 22, porters range from 20 to 40, and stouts are at the end at 40. Taste, There are a lot of similarities here, but brown ales tend to be sweeter or fruitier, while porters tend to have more of a burnt or coffee-like flavor. Stouts will have a more full-bodied taste than either. Alcohol content, The ABV of brown ales tends to be a little lower than porters and stouts, but with the variety of blends from today’s brewers, even that isn’t set in stone.
What is the difference between Guinness and porter?
What Is the Difference Between Stout and Porter? Two beers, both alike in color, in a fair pub where we lay our scene Truly, even the most knowledgeable beer connoisseurs have trouble distinguishing between a stout and a porter when given both in a blind taste test.
- Both are dark in color and often impart flavors of coffee, chocolate, and nuts.
- Often, it seems like the only thing that makes a stout a stout and a porter a porter is, well, the name.
- So, what’s the real difference between these two black brews, anyway? These days, it turns out not as much as you might think.
In 1677, the first documented reference to a “stout beer” actually referenced a strong beer, rather than a dark one, as “stout” was a common synonym for “strong” or “brave.” The first iteration of the dark beer in a form closer to what we know today is said to have originated in a London pub where the barman took to mixing lighter, hoppy pale ales with darker, aged beers As unappealing as that may sound, it took off, and brewers began making an approximation of the hoppy cocktail on purpose.
- The style of beer became popular with—you guessed it—porters, due to its distinctive flavor and higher alcohol content, which in turn made it slower to spoil than other styles of beer.
- As more and more brewers began to make the style, experimentation followed, and stronger versions were deemed “stout porter” (read: strong porter).
It used to be that one could find “stout pale ales,” as well, but eventually this distinction fell from popular use, and the word “stout” remained associated only with dark beers. Arthur Guinness in Dublin took note of the dark beer’s explosive popularity and in 1799 halted his brewery’s production of all paler ales to focus solely on porter.
Guinness was never one to do things by half measures—40 years prior he signed a 9,000-year lease on the property in St. James’s Gate that would become the world-renowned Guinness brewery. In about 1821, the brewery had perfected and printed their porter recipe, which is still the basis for the Guinness Original and Guinness Extra Stout.
The brewery’s porter became known colloquially as “plain” to differentiate it from the stronger brews and was a popular drink among Dublin’s working class. “A pint of plain is your only man,” Flann O’Brien famously wrote in his humorous poem, “The Workman’s Friend,” referring, of course, to a pint of Guinness draft.
- The advent of black patent malt in 1817 made it easier and cheaper for brewers to brew porters, as they could now be made from almost entirely pale malt.
- But wait, what’s malt you ask? And why is something called “pale” malt used for making dark stouts and porters? Let’s rewind a moment.
- Malt are grains dried in a process called “malting,” wherein the grains are made to begin to germinate, then quickly halted by drying in hot air.
This process creates enzymes necessary for modifying the grains’ starch into various sugars, making malted grains ideal for use in alcohol production. Barley is the most commonly malted grain as well as the malt used most frequently in beer, though wheat, corn, and rice can also be used.
(Typically the only beers containing malted corn and rice are mass-produced lagers from macrobreweries, as the two grains are cheaper than wheat and barley. Such beers are often known as “adjunct” beers, though many beer snobs will refer to them as “add junk” brews, given their addition of lesser ingredients.) The basis for almost all ales is pale malt, which is cheap to produce in the large scale and can be re-kilned to darken its color and roast, and from there, the pale malt takes on a different name and flavor profile, depending on the toasting temperature and resulting color, etc.
Darker malts are what give stouts and porters their dark colors and roasty, nutty flavors—the higher temperature at which pale malt is roasted, the darker the resulting malt will be. Chocolate malt makes regular appearances in stouts and porters and is so-named because it is toasted at high temperatures that produce a flavor reminiscent of chocolate, not because it contains any actual cocoa.
Ditto for coffee malt.) Black patent malt is roasted at even higher temperatures than chocolate malt and, in addition to its pitch black hue, often lends beers a bitter, burnt flavor that can be desirable when tempering sweeter elements in the beer. Bear in mind that these malts do not appear in black beers alone, but are sometimes used in brown ales and other dark and medium colored beers.
(A recent craft brewing trend has been to add these dark malts to lighter colored beers, creating black lagers and black IPAs.)Many breweries make dark beers, and not necessarily where you would expect. This Lion Stout is from Sri Lanka and has an ABV of 8%.
Bernt Rostad / Flickr ) In the early 20th century, milk stouts, named for the addition of lactose, became popular in the British Isles. Since beer yeast cannot ferment the dairy sugar into alcohol, milk stouts have a slightly sweeter finish, and were considered to be nutritious—so much so that doctors would prescribe them to nursing mothers to increase milk production.
As these sweeter styles became popular in England, stouts without lactose became known as “dry” or “Irish” stouts, as they remained more popular on the other side of the Irish Sea. Guinness is far and away the most famous and popular version of this style of beer (though the fact that many refer to it as “Guinness Porter” should clue you in to just how interchangeable the names often are.) Other popular stout styles are rather straightforward and typically named for their additional malts or ingredients.
There are also oatmeal stouts, brewed with oats, of course; chocolate stouts from chocolate malt, though some craft brewers will add small amounts of actual chocolate to their brews; coffee stouts, which use coffee malts, and, like chocolate stouts, occasionally actual coffee beans; and—wait for it—oyster stouts.
Yep, oyster stouts. Just as stouts and porters were gaining popularity in the 18th century, oysters were a common snack in public houses, and the malty flavors of the dark brews proved an excellent complement to the mollusks’ juicy brine. In the late 1800s, brewers discovered that discarded oyster shells made a good clarifying agent for beers, and many would pour their brews over large quantities of them.
- At some point, an anonymous brewer chose to add the shells earlier in the process, during the boil, along with the grains and hops.
- Experts estimate that it wasn’t until about 1929 when someone chose to add actual oyster meat to the brew.
- Experimental craft brewers have revitalized the unconventional style in recent years, but whether the oyster’s salty, brackish flavors make it into the final beverage is still up for debate.This South African porter has an ABV of 4.5%.
Though most porters like this one tend to be lighter than stouts, it’s not a hard and fast rule. ( Max Pixel ) Many brewers today will tell you that the real difference between stouts and porters is the malt, and this generally holds true—porters typically use a malted barley, while stouts take an unmalted, roasted barley, which lends the beverage its coffee flavors.
- Wayne Wambles of Tampa brewery Cigar City told Craft Beer Brewing magazine that he would typically differentiate between the two beers through using roasted barley in stouts but not porters.
- Even so, the lines are hazy, especially as craft brewers continue to experiment.
- I subscribe to the never say never camp,” Wambles admitted, “So I can’t say I would never put roasted barley in a porter.” Some still hold with the old notion that a stout is likely to be stronger than a porter, but this is not always the case.
A Russian Imperial Stout is a style based on a dark beer brewed for the court of Catherine II of Russia in the 18th century and typically has an alcohol content of at least 9% ABV (more than double that of Guinness Draught). However, a Baltic Porter is a version of the Imperial Stout that packs just as much of an alcoholic punch, despite its porter designation, proving that the different appellations are more or less arbitrary.
Even at Guinness, the Guinness Extra Stout weighs in at 5.6% ABV while the West Indies Porter comes out to 6.0%. Sometimes the name is changed for marketing purposes alone. Luke Purcell of Great Lakes Brewery told Craft Brewing Business, “We brewed a winter stout here at Great Lakes, and only after it was done fermenting one of the brewers suggested that it would sound better if we called it winter porter instead.
It’s been our Alberta Winter Clipper Porter ever since.” Curiously enough, the pint of Guinness we know and love today is billed neither as a stout nor a porter. The brewery dubs it simply “Guinness Draught,” and compared to their other offerings, it is relatively new.
- In 1959, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Arthur Guinness signing his 9,000-year lease, the Guinness brewers paired carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas to create the smooth, velvety texture for which today’s pint of the black stuff is famed.
- In addition to its world-renowned creamy draft, in 2014 Guinness released recreations of some of its past recipes, so fans could get a little taste of malty history.
The Dublin Porter is inspired by recipes from Guinness brewers’ diaries from 1796. It’s a session beer at 3.8% alcohol by volume, with medium-sweet caramel malty flavors and a slightly bitter finish. For those looking for a brew that packs a bit more punch (read: booze), there’s the West Indies Porter (mentioned above).
Coming from a recipe that dates back to 1801, the beer is heavily hopped with US Goldings hops, giving it more bitterness to balance out the nutty and chocolate flavors. This recipe was designed for exported beer—the higher hop content (and higher alcohol) helped preserve the beer on long sea voyages—and was the inspiration for Guinness’s current brew, the Foreign Extra Stout.
Guinness also offers a milk stout style in addition to their classic draft and historical recreations. Guinness’s vintage trademark Extra Stout logo. Guinness ceased production on their original porter in the mid 20th century. ( Though Guinness offers some paler brews—they introduced a lager in 2014 and a nitro IPA in 2015 that uses the same technology as Guinness Draught cans to add smoothness to the hoppy brew—they remain famous for their dark beers, whether stouts or porters.
The reboots seem to take the name of porter, perhaps as a nod to the beer’s heritage. Whatever you call them stout, porter, or a pint of plain, dark beers only grown in popularity among craft brewers and beer drinkers, and more traditional styles like Guinness Draught have kept their place on beer menus worldwide since their inception, proving they are classics for a reason.
Visit the ShamrockGift.com for official Guinness merchandise including pint glasses, bar signs, accessories, and apparel. : What Is the Difference Between Stout and Porter?
What makes a Baltic Porter?
Overall Impression – A Baltic Porter often has the malt flavors reminiscent of an English porter and the restrained roast of a schwarzbier, but with a higher OG and alcohol content than either. Very complex, with multi-layered malt and dark fruit flavors.
What is porter vs stout vs dark lager?
And Now, A Brief Bit of Brewing Science – Through numerous studies* and intensive research** we at BDRI have identified that the main cause of Stoutophobia seems to come from the stout’s characteristic thick and heavy body and mouthfeel. Those qualities are primarily derived from the presence of a larger amount of residual, unfermented sugars leftover from the shorter, higher-heat brewing process used to create ales—A meta beer style that includes stouts ( originally known as stout porters ), porters, brown ales, and a ton of other beers. Dark Lagers, by comparison, incorporate similar roasted malts but are fermented much more slowly at cooler temps. This allows for more residual sugars to be “attenuated” (converted to booze) and results in a final beer that’s far drier, crisper, and lighter-bodied than a stout, yet retains all of that desirable malt complexity.