Porter vs Stout Beer

Porter or stout? They look almost identical in the glass, and people use the names almost interchangeably, but there are real differences in how they are made and how they taste. Here is a plain-English guide to porter vs stout, so you can work out which dark beer is your kind of pint.

With a wide range of beers to choose from, from pilsner, pale ales, IPAs, stout and porters it can be overwhelming to find the right drink for you. In today’s blog we are going to be discussing porter vs stout beer to help you decide which drink you’d prefer as your next tipple of choice.

Porter and stouts have considerable similarities. Porter has been around for many years and the name originates back to the 1700s when the hard-working porters in London would go to their local pub after work. They are known for their dark medium body and significant amount of hoppiness. However stouts arrived when people experimented with porter recipes. Originally they were called ‘stout porters’ before stout had their own beer category. Stouts are usually known for their heartiness and thickness compared to porters.

The main difference between porter and stout beers is the malts that are used. Traditionally the brewing process has meant porters were brewed using brown malted barley, whereas stout is brewed using roasted and unmalted barley. This affects the flavour profiles of both beer styles as due to the malted barley in porters, they are usually sweeter with a focus on flavours such as chocolate and caramel and less burnt or roast notes. On the other hand, stouts tend to have burnt aromas alongside a roast or espresso taste and stouts are darker in appearance. Usually breweries offer a wider variety of stouts compared to porters from imperial stouts and Irish stouts to chocolate stouts.

In practice, that difference in malt is what you taste. Roasting the barley harder, as you do for a stout, drives off the sweeter chocolate and caramel notes and pushes it towards dry, coffee-like bitterness. It is the same idea as the difference between milk and dark chocolate, or between a medium and a dark roast coffee.

There is a very subtle taste difference between stouts and porters so it is likely that if you like one, you’ll probably like the other. The honest answer is that the line between the two has blurred over the years, and plenty of breweries label by feel as much as by formula. The best way to find your favourite is simply to try both side by side.

Yorkshire Heart Beer

	Porter	Stout
Origins	London, early 1700s, the drink of the city’s porters	Came later as a stronger “stout porter”, then split off as its own style
Classic malt	Brown malted barley	Roasted, often unmalted barley
Flavour	Softer and sweeter, chocolate and caramel	Bolder and drier, roasted coffee and espresso
Body	Smooth, medium	Fuller, often thicker
Our version	Ghost Porter	Blackheart Stout

 

Every dark beer we have mentioned is brewed just a few steps from our vines at our brewery in Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire, so whichever you prefer, you are drinking proper Yorkshire beer.

The Yorkshire Heart Blackheart Stout is a strong dark stout that boasts roasted coffee and molasses flavour.

We also have the Ghost Porter, our multi-award-winning porter, rich and smooth and full of chocolate malts at 5.4% ABV.

Another favourite is Molly’s Chocolate Stout. Inspired by our very own chocolate Labrador, who you will spot roaming around the vineyard, this chocolate stout is a strong 7% and is best enjoyed sipped and savoured.

If you are a wine lover wanting to branch out into beer, why not try our Pinot Porter. It is a strong, smooth porter packed with dark malts, aged in our old red wine barrels from the Yorkshire Heart vineyard to give it a dry, red-wine finish that lingers.

Alternatively, come and discover how we make our porter and stout with our brewery tour and tasting. Our friendly Yorkshire Heart team will walk you round the brewery, talk you through the process and the ingredients, and then it is over to you for a taste. After that you will head to our Winehouse Cafe for more beer tasting and a lovely Yorkshire tapas supper.

Porter vs Stout FAQs

Is stout stronger than porter?
Not necessarily. Strength comes down to the individual beer, not the style. Our Ghost Porter is 5.4% ABV, while our Blackheart Stout is 4.8%, so in our range the porter is actually the stronger of the two.

What is the main difference between porter and stout?
It comes down to the grain. Porter is traditionally brewed with brown malted barley, which gives softer chocolate and caramel notes, while stout leans on heavily roasted barley for a drier, more coffee-like flavour. The two styles overlap a lot, which is why people often struggle to tell them apart.

Does porter or stout taste sweeter?
Generally porter. The brown malts used in a porter keep more of that chocolate and caramel sweetness, whereas the harder roast in a stout pushes it towards dry, espresso-like bitterness. If you have a sweeter tooth, our Ghost Porter is a good place to start.

What food goes with porter and stout?
Both are brilliant with rich, savoury and sweet dishes alike, think blue cheese, mushrooms, roasted meats and chocolate puddings. For more ideas, have a read of our beer and food pairings guide.

Are porter and stout ales or lagers?
Both are ales. They are brewed with top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures, which is part of what gives them their fuller body and roasted depth compared with a crisp, cold-fermented lager.