What is the difference between Black Beer and Stouts?

Yesterday I visited Frankenmuth Michigan and I spent a good amount of time in a specific shop and found the beer section.


I found at least a half dozen beers labled as "Black Beer"


What is the difference between a Black Beer and a Stout or even a Porter?


What makes it Beer and not a Stout.


Is it just misinformation or just loose definitions?





Someone let me know!|||I think the use of Black Beer is not the best one. In Germany black beer is schwarz beer which is a dark lager. It is close to being like a standard lager but made with a bit of dark (roasted) malt to give it the dark color and flavor. So going by this black beer is a lager style.





Stout and porter are ales. There is not too much difference between ales and lagers but on a technical level there is some. Anyway, the porter is not as heavy as the stout. In fact some people say beer historians or whoever, say that stouts are a heavier version of the porter beer. Both use the dark roasted malt to get their color and roasted aromas and flavors too just as in the black beer. These two beers will be heavier in body that is in the feel-thickness in the mouth and in the overall flavor. The stout (stout porter) will have used more black malt (black patent) which is very dark and harsh. But both the stout and porter can use caramelized or lighter roasted (brown) malts to provide more complex sweet to toasted-bread like aroma and flavors.








There really is nothing like trying all these wonderful beers. Just go back the brewery in Frankenmuth or to a liquor store that has a selection big enough to have these for your drinking pleasure.





The other thing to do is search the yahoo web for those beers that is black beer (schwarz) porter and also stout. There are home brew clubs with information and the American Homebrewers Association should have some too. Also do a specific search for beer style. There is the Beer Judge Certification Program too that has a list of these and many more beer styles with the full descriptions and some professional examples.








I will get you a few examples.


http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/31





Do you trust the Germans with bier? LOL


http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Schwa鈥?/a>


http://www.tastings.com/search_beer.lass鈥?/a>


K枚stritzer Schwarzbier





http://beeradvocate.com/articles/305





http://www.tastings.com/beer/stout_porte鈥?/a>





Remember that the Black Beer is a lager and the Porter and Stouts are ales. Also take this as a loose categorization since the aromatic chemicals (dont ask so boring) are really the major thing between them.


http://www.realbeer.com/library/beerbrea鈥?/a>


http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style|||Beer = Ales and Lagers


Both the ales and lagers have different styles. A style is different from another by a comparison of thickness measured by its specific gravity, alcohol content, color, and flavor. Some people say ales are different from lagers because they are fermented at warmer temperatures than lagers. They also say that ale yeast is a top and lager a bottom fermenting yeast. This in an unfortunate urban-legend of the craft and homebrewing communities. The temperature concept is correct but the yeast ferment pretty much the same way. What a brewer of beer actually considers of yeast is its ability to clump/aggregate, its degree of sugar utilization, and flavors that it produces.





The Black beer is a dark lager and the porter and stout are dark ales.


All three are made in very closely related methods unless if traditional methods are used.


The greatest differences we get from these beers are their body and flavor. The lager is thinner and more smooth than the other two which are a little thicker in body and perception. The two ales also use more of the dark grain to get their deeper color and harsher dark flavor.





You got a bunch of info so go get them and drink with confidence.|||I cant add much more from what there is said just my experience. I'm no brewmaster but I have had those beers so I have a good idea of what they are like. Like the answers above the grain is toasted much the way they do with coffee beans to make them darker. When used in combinations the light, crystal, and black malt make the beer you are asking about. I really like the black beer because it is so easy to drink and it has good flavor. The darker porter and stouts are smooth and more intense. If you like dark food like coffee or dark bread you will like them too. THe porter is smoother and richer than the stout which I think has a sharp bite from the dark grain.|||The black beer might actually be a schwartzbier, a black German lager. It's malty with a bit of noble hops in the finish.





A stout is a type of ale, known for it's coffee-like flavor.





A porter is an ale that tastes maltier than stout and often has some chocolately notes to it.