OG and went up from there.
As time passed, the suffix "Porter" was dropped and these beers were called Stouts. British brewers continued using the term Porter to designate both Porters and Stouts.
During the first World War, grain shortages in England led to restrictions on the roasting of dark malts and on the production of strong beer.
With less restrictions, Irish brewers like Guinness took advantage of the lack of competition and began to dominate the bottled Stout market even though English brewers continued to brew draught stouts through the second World War.
Guinness continued brewing their Porters up until 1974 when the style was discontinued. Stouts grew into their own style but there was still division and debate on whether Stouts should be a separate style. Usually the only deciding factor is strength.
After the invention of black patent malt, Irish brewers discontinued the use of brown malt altogether, using only pale malt and black patent for color and flavor.
English brewers, however, continued using brown malt in their grain bills for a while, differentiating the Irish Stouts and Porters from the English versions.
With the rise of pale ales and clear lagers, the beer's hold on the brewing industry declined sharply. Porters, as a style, became pretty much nonexistant.
During the craft beer movement in the US, homebrewers, microbreweries and brewpubs brought back the style. Modern Porters are usually brewed with pale malt, black malt, crystal, and chocolate malts for character and color.
There are three sub-categories of Porter listed by the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines. These are:
References: Information for this page was adapted from the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines, The Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia article entitled Porter (beer), the article What the Hell is a Porter? written by Alstrom Brothers and published on Beeradvocate.com, and the article Black Patent Malt and the Evolution of Porter written by Kihm Winship and published in Zymurgy magazine in the Summer 1987 issue.
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