Beer U - Stouts & Porters

Stouts and porters have become an important part of the American and North Carolina craft beer scene. As with most beer styles, stouts and porters have their roots in European brewing tradition. But like IPAs, sours, and wheat ales, American craft brewers have put their own stamp on stouts and porters, adding new ingredients, blurring boundaries, and pushing limits.

Porters originated in the UK in the early 18th century, and stouts – originally called “stout porter” – followed shortly thereafter. (For more about the history of stouts and porters. click here.)

Guiness and Nitrogen

Guinness is far and away the most popular stout beer – and one of the highest selling beers of any type – in the world. Note that Guinness is a particular style of stout: a dry Irish Stout. Dry Irish stouts are a bare-bones version of stout as described above with a dry, light-bodied, coffee/smoky taste, low alcohol (typically 4.5%) and a bitter finish.

Guinness, when served “properly," has another key ingredient: nitrogen. When Guinness draft is dispensed from a tap, nitrogen gas is injected. Nitrogen produces smaller bubbles than CO2, resulting in the signature creamy texture, velvety mouthfeel, and substantial foamy head. To get the same effect in canned and bottled products, Guinness uses a capsule which releases nitrogen gas when the can or bottle are opened.

However, I found out in making the video that not all Guinness products include a nitrogen capsule. The bottled Guinness I purchased was apparently one of those products. As a result, there was very little head and the mouthfeel lacked the creamy texture. A little research revealed that canned Guinness generally includes a nitrogen capsule, but the bottle version is hit-and-miss. Your best bet is to get Guinness on tap.

Rooted in Tradition

Stout vs. Porter

So, what is the difference between stouts and porters? They both are dark-colored and sometimes taste similar, but there are distinct differences. Stouts are black in color, dry (not sweet), light-bodied, tend toward roasted coffee and smoky flavors, and finish with a bitter aftertaste. Porters are dark brown, smoother, sweeter with chocolate and caramel flavor notes, and often have a higher alcohol content.

The reason for these differences is that stouts are brewed (at least partially) with roasted unmalted barley while all the barley used in porters has been malted. The highly roasted unmalted barley is responsible for the black color, bitterness, coffee notes, and smokiness. There is also less malt to provide fermentable sugar and residual sweetness – thus, the dryer taste. My Beer Bro Bill and I dove deep into stouts and porters in this video.

Many Variations to Explore

The thing we love most about American (and, of course, North Carolina) stouts and porters is the variation and imagination. Versions of both stouts and porters include coffee, chocolate, oatmeal, milk, and vanilla. Imperial stout is its own incredible category, and we'll cover those in a future feature. As we've explored NC craft beer, we've come across some delicious, complex, inventive, and nuanced porters and stouts. (Check out our posts about various breweries to discover some of our favorites.)

As I mentioned earlier, the line between stouts and porters can be blurry with ingredients like those above used in both styles as well as nitro versions. Two of the most popular stout and porter variations are oatmeal and milk.

Oatmeal Stout/Porter

Oatmeal is used by brewers primarily to contribute a creamy mouthfeel to a stout or porter. The sugars in oatmeal are not fermentable so the only contribution to the beer besides the creaminess is a little residual sweetness. This quality plays especially well with stouts by partially balancing the bitterness. “Breakfast” stout/porter is another style brewed with oatmeal.

Milk Stout/Porter

Milk stouts/porters are brewed with lactose or milk sugar, a non-fermentable sugar that adds sweetness and a creamy body to the beer. Nitro versions add an even greater boost to the velvety mouthfeel.

Stouts and porters with all their variations are a wonderful rabbit-hole to explore. It is easy to understand why Guinness is so popular and why, for many people, the only beer they will drink. But there are so many subtle (and not so subtle) variations on the theme to explore and enjoy. After all, both porters and stouts started out as varieties of different beers!

Of course, this same detail applies to other stouts. If you buy a stout in a can or bottle and want that creamy mouthfeel and thick, durable head, be sure to look for a “nitro” stout. A nitro stout should be equipped with a nitrogen capsule or “widget.”

Do you have a favorite stout and/or porter?