Stouts and Porters

Now, a lot of people notice that there are a great deal of flavor similarities in these two families of beer styles. So much so, in fact, that is often difficult to tell them apart.

The reason for this is that they started out as the SAME beer family. Our beloved Stouts, my dears, are nothing more than strong porters that have branched off and become a beer style of their own.

As to the hows and whys, those are a little muzzier. The most famous of Stouts, Guinness, started life as a porter, the label was changed to Extra Stout in 1840 and a number of people date the style from this point.

Although this really isn't terribly accurate since the wealth of English Porters and 'Stouts' pouring into Ireland is part of what inspired Arthur Guinness to adopt the style in the first place.