It's a Stout it's a Porter it's a S....

[PanzerBanana]

So I'm planning on entering my latest original stout in a home brew competition. It's predecessor turned out very well and I figure I've got a shot. However, it's not quite that easy pinning down exactly what it would be classified as technically.

It would probably be closer to stout since not all the ingredients are British. However it's going to have a higher ABV. I'm hoping it comes close to it's 10% potential. Which would likely count as Imperial.

I'm not one for boundaries in creative pursuits so all the regulations as to what is or isn't a particular beer really bug me.

And from all the reading I've done most signs point to there not being any significant difference in Porter and Stout other than stouts can commonly have roasted barley.

I only found mention of one brewery, St. Paul's, that actually makes a somewhat historically traditional porter. Being they actually blend two different ages of ales.

It's funny how the more you can learn about something the more confusing it can become.

Cheers

 

[FireNightFly]

I think thats because the word stout is ment more for descriptive purposes rather than a type of beer, where stout is ment to describe the strength of a beer. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest beers, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery.

Porters are commonly perceived as sweeter on the nose and palate, while Stouts are generally more of a dry bitterness. Furthermore, the color range for stouts is darker, ranging from dark brown to black, while porters rest more firmly in the brown spectrum. Stout is brewed with roasted barley; porter is not (or less commonly). Which prob notes for the darker less sweet taste.

I found an interesting link from someone who appears to know the Numbers on the beers ... http://www.brewmorebeer.com/dark-beer-styles-stout-vs-porter/

 

[COLObrewer]

Ingredients list might help us help you classify it. Have you tried this? http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/

 

[Pappers_]

You can't be constrained by the bourgeois definitions of the beer-judging class! It's not a porter or a stout, dammit, it's a Panzer!

Seriously, look at the styles guidelines posted above. If you don't find the right category, if it straddles categories or is just a wild radical brew, you might consider skipping the competition - they really are structured for beers that fit a style well.

 

[PanzerBanana]

Well I was likely entering it as a "Specialty Beer", since I added honey and licorice root. I went with ingredients that made sense for what I was going for.

I'm thinking of giving them what for with a root beer entered as an herb beer. and a smoked ale hehe

 

[carnevoodoo]

At 10%, the only two categories it will fit in are Imperial stout and specialty (as an Imperial porter). You could enter it in both and see how it fares in each.

 

[COLObrewer]

Maybe 26B braggot. Otherwise 23A specialty beer, maybe "imperial porter"?

 

[PanzerBanana]

I'm probably just going to enter it as a specialty if I can't really decide on it's "base style". Since I just used ingredients I liked rather than trying to match them to their geographic point of origin.

It should probably be an "imperial something" though. I'm thinking it's going to get close to the 10% mark. It's just a couple days short of being in the fermenter for a week and it's still bubbling. Today's the first day that it's slowed to 1-2min bursts.