Beer connoisseurs (yes, they increasingly exist) will be able to tell you the fine difference between stouts and porters but for the larger aam janta, they’re both just dark, bitter beers. Porters and stout are very similar beers. They are dark beers that originated in London pubs in the 18th century. Stouts are a stronger and fuller-bodied variation of porters, with typically 7-8 per cent alcohol. Porters are well hopped, made from brown malt and descended from brown beer. This class of beers was popular with the street and river porters in London at the time, hence their name. The strongest of these were called stout porter but the term was later shortened to stout. Some bartenders feel that the higher use of roasted barley and/or black patent malt in stouts differentiates them from porter malt recipes. Stout used to mean strong or fortified beer and actually had nothing to do with colour. Since stout is more roasted barley-centric, it gives coffee to espresso aroma and flavour, while porter is more chocolate and mocha oriented by the use of chocolate malt.
