Debate

Stout and porter or a golden bitter?

According to the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), stout and porter have replaced golden bitter as the most commonly produced beer styles. Would you choose a stout over a golden bitter, and why?

I’d always choose a dark beer (I’d include dark milds with stout and porter) over a golden bitter. I prefer their generally more subtle hop flavours and rich maltiness.

Alexander Wright

I love the flavour of stouts and porters and would choose them every time. Having said that, I probably drink more lighter beers. Two reasons: good stouts and porters tend to be high ABV, so I have to avoid them if driving, plus there is a limit to how much dark, heavy beer most people can drink in one session. Personally, I never have more than three and often less. Jim Reddihough

Yes, most certainly, but that may be a function of being on the Isle of Man where dark beers remain rare, so a change is good when I find one. I do travel the country very widely and anecdotally have noticed an increase in stout and porter availability recently, particularly but not exclusively in the north of England. When I say an increase, I do mean despite the usual winter increase of these beers that we always see. David Halliwell

I have never drunk golden beers – dark beers are my preference.

Stephen Dann

It seems to be that the answer to the initial question is clearly “no”. John Clarke

On stouts and porters, it’s not a beer style I seek out, but will drink Hooky Double Stout [4.8 per cent ABV] if available and if the mood takes me.

Richard Palmer

I don’t see them as interchangeable. I’ll choose a hoppy pale or a golden with ambers and bitters as a fallback and would never opt for heavy, dark beers as sessionable, no matter how great they taste. I enjoy the occasional whisky, but I wouldn’t want four pints of it. I can’t imagine that gold drinkers are defecting en masse to stout and porter. They’re different populations. Do you want an ale like a square meal, or an ale like a refreshing drink?

Richard Gray

One of the wonders of real ale (or craft beer more widely) is that there are so many styles, so I’m not sure that I would consciously make such a choice.

Trying something different would usually be where I would start in a pub with a good reputation for beer quality (except in a Bathams house, obviously…).

However, opting for a big-brand beer likely to have the quickest turnover would usually be my default in a pub where quality is unknown or unreliable. Richard Adam

I particularly like stouts and porters, so I drink them often. But I also like traditional bitters. I think it’s true that bitters (golden ales) are unfashionable at the moment – partly because of the ubiquitous popularity of heavily hopped US-style pale ales. James Williams