Difference Between Porter and Brown Ale?

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alcibiades

alcibiades

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What is the difference between a porter (non-robust) and a brown ale(say, northern english)?

The vital statistics are very similiar on the BJCP website, and from what I've seen for recipes, they use a lot of the same ingredients. So what do you guys consider to be the defining difference?
 
The last 2 porters I have had were black and roasty.....


WHAT's THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PORTER AND A STOUT?????lol.

Sorry, no thread jack intended.
 
the porter is darker for one .. brown ale is 12 - 22 SMR and porter is 20 - 30 SMR. yes there is some over lap but most recipes hit somewhere in the middle of these ranges. the brown ale uses lighter grain than the porter.

the hops are probably different but that is a matter of preference.
 
Except for Brown Porters.:D

Looking at a Brown and a Brown Porter. The porter uses Special B, the brown C60L. The porter also has 2 oz of Black Patent, which is rarely used in a Brown Ale.
 
Porters tend to pack a little bit more ABV than a Brown Ale brewed to style.

And, as PPs have pointed out, the OG of a Porter is higher, more than likely due to the additional amount of grain, contributing to a thicker, maltier texture.
 
Brown Ale, English Brown, Belgian brown, American brown, Nut brown, its all rock & roll to me. I suspect a slight difference in ingredients and probably will be traced back to each ales origins?
 
I made what I thought would be a brown, decided it was more like a porter. Turned out a little roasty, even though I had just a tiny bit of roast malt -- maybe too much chocolate or something in there. Anyway, tasted good, and made me think about how the styles overlap. Browns I generally think of as sweeter/maltier.
 
The lines between browns, porters and stouts are wavy and written in sand. Pelican's Doryman's Dark has won many awards as a Brown Ale, but I'd call it a sweet brown porter.
 

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