Porters and stouts are recognisable for their darker tones, and can be an acquired taste.
Both came from essentially the same beer, and if you put them into glasses side by side, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Yet their differences have long been a hotly-debated topic in the craft beer world.
Some argue that it comes down to porters having roasted malts, others argue that it's down to their origins with porters originating in England, and stouts in Ireland.
We delve into their fascinating history to shed some light on the popular beers...
Porters were created first
Porters originated in London, England in the 1720s. Their style quickly became popular among the working class, especially with dockside and street porters (hence the name).
The popularity of porter is understandable - it had a strong flavour and stayed fresh for longer than other beer types.
A man called Arthur Guinness (the founder of Guinness) took the trend to the St James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, and started brewing a huge number of porters.
The beer soon acquired its characteristic dark colour from the use of black patent malt, which also helped it to develop its distinctive flavour.
Indeed, Guinness is a stout, and it has been said that stouts originated from Ireland - the luck of the Irish!
The stout was a variant of the porter
We know all about variants these days. They usually seem to be of the Covid variety and are bad news.
Stouts can be thought of as variants (of porters); because porters were so popular, the mass-scale production resulted in new forms being created, and so the stout was born.
The first known use of the word stout for beer was in a document called the Egerton Manuscript in 1677. The word stout was likely chosen as the name because it was a strong beer, rather than a dark beer.
So, you could think of stouts as being stronger versions of porters.
These days breweries are experimental, and you can get all sorts of stouts. Our latest box contains a chocolate cake stout - ideal for chocolate lovers!
Both stouts and porters are popular today
Beer writers including Michael Jackson (no, not the pop icon) helped to spread the word about stout and porters in the 1970s.
Since then, stouts and porters have really grown in popularity. If you’re a subscriber to our Hospmore beer club, you’ll get to try new ones from time to time.
Porters and stouts stand together, side by side, with similar characteristics and a shared history – and both are waiting to bring some hoppyness into your life.
Please drink responsibly, 18+ only.
