Following up on our quite successful and interesting discussion of IPAs a couple of weeks ago, let’s move on to another popular beer style before it gets too warm out – the stout/porter.

Is there any difference between these two styles?  The Beer Connoisseur says no…

If we go back to the latter half of the 18th century and the first part of the 19th century, stout, more particularly brown stout, was simply the name for the strongest version of porter. Here’s a quote from a book called “A General Dictionary of Commerce, Trade and Manufactures,” published in 1810:

“Porter may be divided into two classes, namely brown-stout and porter properly so called … Brown-stout is only a fuller-bodied kind of porter than that which serves for ordinary drinking. A great deal of this is exported to America and the West Indies.”

…so we’ll consider them together.

What are your favorite stouts and porters?

Photo of El Recluso (“Theophan The Recluse infused with serrano peppers, cocoa nibs, vanilla bean + cinnamon stick”) courtesy of 3 Taverns Brewery’s Facebook page