Answers.Body: <p><strong>TL;DR: Yes, but they're growing.</strong></p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/suSTQ.jpg" alt="Beer style sales chart"></p>
  
  <p>This chart shows, for craft beer sold in 2012, the relative portion of the market each style made up, with IPA being the most popular (a relatively new occurrence).  Porters do not even show up.</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2YE43.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
  <p>Here's another for 2011 showing porters as quite low on the list.</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/oMLU9.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
  <p>This chart shows the year-over-year increase in sales by style.  You'll note here that, at least in 2011, porters weren't growing very fast either.</p>
  
  <p>More recent data was a little hard to come by, but it seems that the overall sales numbers are unlikely to change <em>that</em> much in a couple years: IPAs, Pale ales, Ambers and Amber Lagers are probably still topping the charts.  So it's not that porters don't sell at all, but they're certainly not top earners.</p>
  
  <p>Drifting into conjecture, I would say that the people interested in 'big beers' will take a stout over a porter, and those interested in a more subtle beer will go for a brown or an amber, leaving porters in a bit of a no-man's-land in the middle.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-01-31T14:42:56.707Z
Answers.Text: Wow. Toaster did some research. Great answer.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ryan Kinal
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Answers.CreationDate: 2014-01-30T23:14:15.337Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-01-30T23:14:15.337Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Fishtoaster
Body: <p>Recently, I traveled to Denver, CO, and though I didn't go for beer-specific purposes, I took advantage of a few breweries (and taphouses) that were conveniently close to my hotel.</p>
  
  <p>The one I was most excited about was Great Divide, mostly because I had discovered their <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/262/" rel="noreferrer">Saint Bridget's Porter</a> years beforehand. I did not keep track of this beer, however, and was disappointed to find that they no longer produced it.</p>
  
  <p>The bartender informed me that this was because "porters don't do well in the marketplace."</p>
  
  <p>Is this a common opinion among brewers? Could it just be regional to Denver? What might the reasoning be behind this?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-01-30T21:07:05.100Z
Comments.Text: I did, however, very much enjoy their other beers. "I Believe" in Yeti.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ryan Kinal
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-01-30T21:13:40.563Z
Comments.Text: Non-answer, opinion-based: Stouts seem to be the thing in the "dark" beer category, esp. your flavored and imperial stouts, since a base stout is just a little bit bigger than a porter.  I would guess that porters are considered "pedestrian", or perhaps just retreading the stout category.  That said, there are some great porters out there, so don't give up on them!  :)
Comments.UserDisplayName: object88
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-01-30T22:41:14.480Z
Comments.Text: Since there's no real difference between stouts and porters, do you know if this bartender was trying to say that this style of beer does not do well, or that it's something about the name "porter" itself? (My one friend thought that all porters tasted like coffee for a long time, because he'd only ever had coffee porters.)
Comments.UserDisplayName: hunse
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-01-31T14:42:00.453Z
Comments.Text: We didn't get that far into the discussion, him being a bartender and it being a Friday night.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ryan Kinal
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-02-04T09:12:32.133Z
Comments.Text: IMHO, there's quite a difference between stout and porter. A Stout is usually fairly smooth, sweet and roasty, chocolatey, even vanilla. A porter is usually a more acrid bitterness, less sweetness - more focus on the roasted qualities without the sweetness.
Comments.UserDisplayName: mdma
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-02-04T20:43:36.647Z
Comments.Text: @mdma: I agree with  that stouts and porters are different, but not 100% with your flavor assessment. A stout is brewed with roasted barley, and that roast is the signature flavor of a stout (dry, foreign or imperial). A milk stout will have lactose added, and tends to be sweeter. Porters may include roasted barley but usually have other dark malts, such as chocolate, black barley, black patent, etc. I find they are generally more chocolately and often sweeter than a stout, but may be more acrid than a stout if the black patent is overdone.
Comments.UserDisplayName: jalynn2
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2014-02-04T20:45:26.763Z
Comments.Text: @object88: A dry stout is lighter than a brown porter (the two lightest types of stout and porter) in body and alcohol. Most people are surprised to find out that Guinness draft is actually a light beer.
Comments.UserDisplayName: jalynn2
Tags: <breweries><porter>
Title: Porter in the Marketplace
UserDisplayName: Ryan Kinal
ThreadText: # Porter in the Marketplace
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-30)
  
  Recently, I traveled to Denver, CO, and though I didn't go for beer-specific purposes, I took advantage of a few breweries (and taphouses) that were conveniently close to my hotel.
  
  The one I was most excited about was Great Divide, mostly because I had discovered their [Saint Bridget's Porter](http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/262/) years beforehand. I did not keep track of this beer, however, and was disappointed to find that they no longer produced it.
  
  The bartender informed me that this was because "porters don't do well in the marketplace."
  
  Is this a common opinion among brewers? Could it just be regional to Denver? What might the reasoning be behind this?
  
  **Tags:** breweries, porter
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I did, however, very much enjoy their other beers. "I Believe" in Yeti.  
  > **username_1**: Non-answer, opinion-based: Stouts seem to be the thing in the "dark" beer category, esp. your flavored and imperial stouts, since a base stout is just a little bit bigger than a porter.  I would guess that porters are considered "pedestrian", or perhaps just retreading the stout category.  That said, there are some great porters out there, so don't give up on them!  :)  
  > **username_2**: Since there's no real difference between stouts and porters, do you know if this bartender was trying to say that this style of beer does not do well, or that it's something about the name "porter" itself? (My one friend thought that all porters tasted like coffee for a long time, because he'd only ever had coffee porters.)  
  > **username_0**: We didn't get that far into the discussion, him being a bartender and it being a Friday night.  
  > **username_3**: IMHO, there's quite a difference between stout and porter. A Stout is usually fairly smooth, sweet and roasty, chocolatey, even vanilla. A porter is usually a more acrid bitterness, less sweetness - more focus on the roasted qualities without the sweetness.  
  > **username_4**: @username_3: I agree with  that stouts and porters are different, but not 100% with your flavor assessment. A stout is brewed with roasted barley, and that roast is the signature flavor of a stout (dry, foreign or imperial). A milk stout will have lactose added, and tends to be sweeter. Porters may include roasted barley but usually have other dark malts, such as chocolate, black barley, black patent, etc. I find they are generally more chocolately and often sweeter than a stout, but may be more acrid than a stout if the black patent is overdone.  
  > **username_4**: @username_1: A dry stout is lighter than a brown porter (the two lightest types of stout and porter) in body and alcohol. Most people are surprised to find out that Guinness draft is actually a light beer.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2014-01-30. Score: 7 | Accepted answer
  
  **TL;DR: Yes, but they're growing.**
  
  ![Beer style sales chart](https://i.sstatic.net/suSTQ.jpg)
  
  This chart shows, for craft beer sold in 2012, the relative portion of the market each style made up, with IPA being the most popular (a relatively new occurrence). Porters do not even show up.
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2YE43.jpg)
  
  Here's another for 2011 showing porters as quite low on the list.
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/oMLU9.jpg)
  
  This chart shows the year-over-year increase in sales by style. You'll note here that, at least in 2011, porters weren't growing very fast either.
  
  More recent data was a little hard to come by, but it seems that the overall sales numbers are unlikely to change *that* much in a couple years: IPAs, Pale ales, Ambers and Amber Lagers are probably still topping the charts. So it's not that porters don't sell at all, but they're certainly not top earners.
  
  Drifting into conjecture, I would say that the people interested in 'big beers' will take a stout over a porter, and those interested in a more subtle beer will go for a brown or an amber, leaving porters in a bit of a no-man's-land in the middle.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Wow. Toaster did some research. Great answer.  
  
  ---
  
  