One could be forgiven for thinking that all dark beers are the same, but that’s definitely not the case.
There’s tremendous variety within the world of dark beer, with ingredients, alcohol content, and fermentation methods creating opportunities for craft beer breweries to develop a wide range of flavors.
The following article will break down stout versus porter beer types, and will also define where brown ale fits into the mix.
There’s also a number of highly recommended variations that will help you form a flavor profile for these tremendously interesting beer styles.
Stouts Are Porters
As my go-to beer advisor, Declan Roche, Assistant Venue Manager at Sea Legs Brewing tells me, “A stout is a type of porter; the full name, in reality, is a stout porter. A porter is a bolder, richer type of dark ale, and a stout porter is more robust again, usually with higher alcohol by volume.”
The excellent Beer Judge Certification Program defines stout beer as “a very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale.” Stouts are generally darker in color, stronger in alcohol content, and brewed with the use of roasted malt, which creates more dominant coffee attributes. The traditional stout mouthfeel tends to be thicker and more brazen than that of other dark ales.
A porter beer is described as “a substantial, malty dark ale with a complex and flavorful character.” It is often brewed with roasted grain to create a heavy yet sweeter flavored beer that incorporates notes such as coffee, chocolate, and caramel. Porter beer is livelier on the palate, matching a juicy mouthfeel with more subtlety than the creamy thickness that a standard stout delivers.
What About Brown Ale?
Brown ale is neither stout nor porter yet shares some essential characteristics with both. Like a porter, brown ale tends to be more towards a malt-centric flavor profile when brewed, yet is lighter in hop bitterness and alcohol content.
Some brown ale approaches a stout level of creaminess on the palate, yet lacks the power of unmalted roasted barley. Brown ales are generally more sessionable than their heavier counterparts.
What Do the Terms Imperial and Russian Imperial Mean?
Imperial and Russian Imperial stout, beer, or ale, just means that it is much stronger than the standard version of a brew.
As outlined in our article about the 17 best Indian Pale Ale beers to try, Roche broke down that for breweries, “They want – and really love – strong flavors, so they developed a heavy-duty version to suit their palate for dark beers. Some of us that don’t like numbers prefer to use the term Imperial, or Russian Imperial to Double (strength).”
Now you know the differences between a stout and porter (and a brown ale), here’s a selection of tasty dark beers for you to sample.
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Best Stouts To Try
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1. Deschutes Obsidian Stout
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A tremendously deep and robust stout bottled at 6.4% ABV with a nice amount of hoppy bitterness.
Obsidian, from Oregon’s well-regarded Deschutes Brewery, offers tantalizing notes of espresso, chocolate, roasted malt, and black barley.
Versatile enough for both experienced dark beer lovers and those new to the category, Obsidian is a great tasting beer that’s well worth savoring.
2. Guinness Draught and Guinness Extra Stout
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The famous dark Irish dry stout, Guinness, has been entrancing customers since 1759 across 150 countries and is the world’s most popular export stout.
Despite its reputation as a thick dark beer, Guinness Irish stout has a lot in common with lager, given it’s a sessionable 4.2% ABV and contains a similar amount of calories in the glass. Its rich and creamy mouthfeel from malted barley makes it the ideal entry point for those new to stout.
If you are looking for a heavier, more traditional dry stout, then Guinness Extra Stout will appeal. You’ll notice the slightly different label, brighter, more bitter flavor, and higher ABV (5.6%) on the can.
With the Guinness Extra Stout, you’ll notice roasted barley and the added crispness of carbonation in the beer’s flavor.
3. Sierra Nevada Narwhal Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
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I’m a firm believer in Sierra Nevada beers being some of the best the USA has to offer, and if you are looking for a top-quality dark beer they have you covered.
Sierra Nevada has quality stout and porter offerings, but if you want to go with a super-strong dark beer then the Narwhal is a top-quality Imperial stout.
Brewed at 11.9% ABV (almost double the strength of a standard stout) and aged in American bourbon barrels, it’s got an impressively powerful mouthfeel combining creamy malt with the woodiness of oak and vanilla.
You’ll taste hints of chocolate and espresso on the palate, however, the challenger hops give it just enough pop and bitterness to cut the sweet flavor of malts such as two-row pale, caramel, chocolate, honey, Carafa III, and roasted barley.
One for the traditional style beer lovers, this Russian Imperial stout is a big-bodied delight.
Best Porters To Try
4. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
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A quality brew from Ohio’s Great Lakes brewing, this porter is named in tribute to the S.S Edmund Fitgerald, a freighter that sank in the (actual) Great Lakes in 1975 during the November storm season. All 29 crew were lost at sea.
A complex, roasty porter with a bittersweet combination between a chocolate and coffee taste, there’s a friendly creaminess in the toasted brown malt.
It offers a bold hop presence that cuts through the thicker aspects of the malt, leaving you with a well-rounded, medium-bodied brew that’s simple and enjoyable to drink.
If you are new to the porter beer style, this Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald is a great one to sample and compare with other variations.
5. Jack's Abby Coffee Framinghammer Baltic Porter
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The Baltic Porter is a smooth beer brewed with lager yeast that is cold-fermented and cold-layered.
This coffee baltic porter from Jack’s Abby – who does a wide range of interesting beer expressions – spends a conditioning period in bourbon barrels to create a silky smooth chocolatey mouth feel enhanced by oats and brown sugar.
Its coffee tones are balanced by vanilla sweetness and the oak woodiness from barrel fermentation, with the 10% ABV putting it towards the strength of a Russian Imperial Stout.
6. Funky Buddha Maple Bacon Coffee Porter
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Funky Buddha’s approach to brewing is “big, bold flavors made exactingly with natural ingredients.”
Described as a “diner breakfast” in a pint glass, this interesting porter offers a medium-bodied, flavorsome mix of malt and coffee alongside the sweetness of maple syrup, but without the cloying thickness.
It’s a truly unique tasting beer – there’s an enjoyable hint of smokey bacon in the background – yet this brew is an unmistakable porter, complete with layers of dark brown malt, coffee, and vanilla.
If you have a knack for flavor and love the best experimental dark beer options, then Funky Buddha’s Maple Bacon Coffee Porter will be right up your alley.
Brown Ales To Try
7. Leffe Brown Ale
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Leffe Brown is an authentic dark abbey beer that rivals any of the brown ale popularized in the United Kingdom. It offers a rich, slightly sweet flavor that comes from the use of darkly roasted malt in the brewing process.
There are the enjoyable flavors of caramel, chocolate, and a hint of coffee in the lush flavor profile, and Leffe Brown pours creamily into a traditional chalice.
While it’s not a beer style where you will wish to drink 10 of them in a sitting, it’s easy to appreciate the tasty dark flavor of Leffe Brown as an after-dinner sampler.
8. Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
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This full brown malt beer is brewed at Samuel Smith’s small, traditional British brewery with well water (the original well sunk in 1758 is still in use) and features the best barley malt, roasted barley, yeast, and aromatic hops.
The flavor is derived exclusively from small amounts of dark malt put into the mix.
Nut Brown Ale is relatively dry with a rich amber-brown color, a pleasantly subtle nutty aroma, and flavors of caramel malt, rich brown bread, and dried red fruits.
While it’s not everyone’s preferred beer type, a quality brown ale like this offers craft beer drinkers something different from a standard pale ale, wheat beer, or lager.
9. Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown
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This brew from Founders is a hearty and bold imperial brown ale (9%ABV), that rivals traditional porter and stout beer types for richness and a creamy mouthfeel.
Sumatra Mountain Brown utilizes different malt types – caramel malt, flaked barley malt, chocolate malt, aromatic, and Munich malts – to create a beer with great depth and complexity.
German and Perle hops add a necessary touch of bitterness to balance all that sweet malt, while Sumatra coffee tops off the flavor profile with a notable coffee lilt.
A great beer if you are looking to sample some of the best in American brown ale.
Conclusion
For many (including myself) knowing the strict differences between a porter and a stout is less important than knowing which flavor within the beer I like best.
By trying a range of stout and porter options, plus the odd brown ale as well, you’ll quickly be able to find and develop what appeals to you as a dark beer drinker.
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