• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Unpeeled logo

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Soup, Salad, Snacks
    • Dinner
    • Sides
    • Dessert + Baking
    • Vegetarian + Vegan
    • Beverages
    • Easy
    • Recipe Collections
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Profiles
    • Taste Tests
    • Food Writing Roundups
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellness
    • Food Travel Guides
    • Book Club
  • Cooking School
    • Cooking Technique
    • Baking + Pastry Technique
    • Wine Class
    • Better Know a Food
  • The Food + Grief Project
    • Food That Heals
    • Food That Remembers
    • F+G Articles, Interviews, Essays
  • About
Home / Cooking School / What’s the Difference? Stout vs. Porter

What’s the Difference? Stout vs. Porter

Share
Pin1
Tweet
Email
Print

Through a glass darkly.

poured pint of guinness with beer in background

St. Patrick’s Day this year may be less about a bar crawl and more about relaxing at home, but that is no reason not to pour yourself a well-deserved pint. Chances are good that you may be pouring an Irish stout — or is it a porter? Or is there even a difference? Read on.

What Is Porter?

Porter can be defined most simply as a strong, dark beer. The dark color comes from the use of dark malts in the brewing process. Nowadays, grain used in beer fermentation has been roasted in a kiln. But back in yore, grain was roasted over open flame and aged in wood barrels. The open flames added dark color, as well as differences in flavor.

Porter originated in England over 300 years ago. It allegedly got its name because the dark, malty beer was popular with the boaters and porters who carried goods throughout the city. Porter achieved higher, more consistent quality due to timing: Its invention coincided with the start of the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, beer brewing (along with many other things) became more streamlined and mechanized. In fact, it was in 1759 that Arthur Guinness — yes, that Guinness — took out a 9,000-year lease on a large, dilapidated Dublin brewery.

You may also enjoy: Irish Soda Bread, Two Ways and Coffee: What does Light, Medium, and Dark Roast Mean?

beers and stouts in bottles with wood background

What Is Stout?

Historically, stout meant a stronger, fuller-bodied — or “stout” — porter. Both were, and remain, made from dark roasted grain. Today, the general consensus holds that porters are brewed with roasted malt, and stouts use unmalted roasted barley. The unmalted roasted barley gives stout its typical coffee notes.

But these are not hard and fast rules. Today, the words are often used interchangeably, and recipes may use elements of both styles, depending on the flavor profile the brewery wants to achieve.

Extra Credit: How to Correctly Pour a Pint of Porter or Stout

Tilt a clean, dry pint glass at 45 degrees and pour slowly and steadily, letting foam settle if necessary at three-fourths full before filling to the top. Cans of stout should be fully chilled for thee hours or more before serving.

Cheers, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

pint of stout with wood background and coffee beans

Filed Under: Articles, Better Know a Food, Beverages, Cooking School, Features Tagged With: beer, guinness, porter, st. patrick's day, stout

Sign Up for the Weekly Newsletter

Never miss a recipe.

More from Unpeeled

Snowball Cookies (Mexican Wedding Cookies)

Snowball Cookies (Mexican Wedding Cookies)

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Bowls With Balloons

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Bowls With Balloons

Celebrating Juneteenth: A Food History

Celebrating Juneteenth: A Food History

Reader Interactions

Share your comment here: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Unpeeled

The journal of cooking, baking, and the bonds we share through food. Learn More

Popular Posts

Elizabeth Tulis head shot
lennon flowers dinner party interview
garlic rosemary pizzetta on pizza tray with cheese
halloween food history candy bars with little pumpkins
bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce on white wood board
sliced plum torte nytimes

Your inbox is hungry! Get the weekly newsletter.

Footer

About Unpeeled

Unpeeled offers trusted recipes, cooking and baking techniques, travel guides, profiles of women in food -- plus articles, essays, and more.

Features

  • Articles
  • Profiles
  • Taste Tests
  • Food Writing Roundups

Cooking School

  • Cooking Technique
  • Baking + Pastry Technique
  • Wine Class

Information

  • About & Contact
  • F.A.Q.s
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2020 Unpeeled Journal. All rights reserved.

  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Soup, Salad, Snacks
    • Dinner
    • Sides
    • Dessert + Baking
    • Vegetarian + Vegan
    • Beverages
    • Easy
    • Recipe Collections
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Profiles
    • Taste Tests
    • Food Writing Roundups
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellness
    • Food Travel Guides
    • Book Club
  • Cooking School
    • Cooking Technique
    • Baking + Pastry Technique
    • Wine Class
    • Better Know a Food
  • The Food + Grief Project
    • Food That Heal
    • Food That Remember
    • F+G Articles, Interviews, Essays
  • About
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter