Introducting: The Stout

Introducing: The Stout

Kicking off Craft Beer Week (May 13-19th) a day late, here’s a classic style I have yet to cover.

A classic dark beer style, the Stout hails from Ireland and England originally, but has since been adopted by craft breweries in America, who have added variations and delicious changes to the style. The most prominent aspect of a stout, and one that covers English, Irish and American variations, is the dark color. Most often utilizing roasted black malt or barley, stouts carry the dark bitter and roasted flavors similar to those of chocolate or coffee. They range from dark brown to jet black in color, and usually sport a thick foamy head (which Guinness embraced to make itself easily recognizable). Some (like the aforementioned Guinness) are nitro poured (rather than carbonated) which make them smooth as opposed to bubbly. The more traditional European styles tend to have lighter bodies, while their American cousins can be all over the map in this regard.

As far as taste is concerned, the most common flavors in a stout are a roasted, sometimes almost burnt flavor, rich with maltiness and finishing with a bitter bite (coming from the darkly roasted malt or barley). Milk or sweet stouts have a creamy and (unsurprisingly) sweeter taste and feel, while Oatmeal stouts use their namesake to add a similarly creamy, but nut-like quality instead. Some newer styles are even aged in whiskey or bourbon casks, giving them a distinct difference in flavor.

Definitely more suited to cold weather, the stout is a medium-to-lighter bodied dark and bitter beer, with a good amount of malt and roasted bite, but can potentially host a wide variety of complex flavors.

C.K.