Sep 17, 2025

Stout

Beer type: Dark beer, top-fermented (ale)
Origin: United Kingdom (England, 18th century)
Alcohol content: 4–8% on average (excluding Imperial Stout), up to 12% in rare cases
Color: Very dark brown to opaque black
Dominant aromas: Coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, toasted bread, caramel
Texture: Medium to full body, creamy and persistent head
Known substyles: Dry Stout (Irish), Sweet/Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Foreign Extra Stout, Oyster Stout
Specificity: Use of heavily roasted malts and barley, giving its typical color and flavors
The standout Stouts highly rated on Untappd:

#1 (4.54/5) Moment of Clarity – Extra Maple by Tree House Brewing Company (Stout – Milk / Sweet) → here

#2 (4.31/5) Toxicité by Brasserie du Bas-Canada (Stout – Milk / Sweet) → here

#3 (4.58/5) Graceland by Equilibrium (Stout – Pastry) → here

#4 (4.45/5) Entropie by Mountain Culture Beer (Stout – Oyster) → here

#5 (4.23/5) Barrel Aged Umbra by Bissell Brothers (Stout – Oatmeal) → here

History of Stout Beers

Stout beers originated in early 18th-century England and are closely linked to the porter style from which they evolved. At the time, the term stout porter was used to describe a stronger version of porter, as the word “stout” means strong or robust in English. These rich, dark beers were especially popular among London’s working class (notably dock and goods porters) who valued their high caloric content after long days of physical labor. Over time, the term stout gained popularity as a designation for any beer with a strong character and higher alcohol content.

Throughout the 19th century, stout gradually separated from porter to become a distinct style. Ireland became one of its cultural strongholds, notably thanks to a famous brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin that refined the recipe with coffee and chocolate notes. Stout thus became a symbol of British and Irish brewing heritage, often called the “nectar of the gods” by its enthusiasts of the time. While still recognized as an Irish specialty, the style has spread worldwide, and many breweries across Europe and beyond now produce stouts.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, stouts experienced ups and downs in popularity, but the current craft beer boom has given them new life. Innovative variants have emerged worldwide, with brewers experimenting by incorporating new ingredients and techniques. Today, stouts appeal to a wide audience of beer enthusiasts across the globe, a testament to their rich heritage and lasting appeal. With no geographical boundaries, stouts are now brewed on every continent, proving that this dark, intense beer has firmly rooted itself in global brewing culture.

Can of Moment of Clarity by Extra Maple partially poured into a glass on the left. All set inside a church.

The Different Styles of Stout

Over time, many stout styles have emerged (aside from the famous Imperial Stout, which deserves its own chapter). Each has its own distinctive characteristics while sharing the common base of roasted malts. Here are the main stout styles to know:

Irish Stout (Dry Stout): This is the classic style popularized in Ireland. With an opaque black color and a thick, creamy head, it has a relatively light body and a dry finish. Its alcohol content is moderate (~4–5%), and it is characterized by dominant flavors of roasted grain, coffee, and chocolate, with slight acidity and subtle bitterness. A hallmark example is the Irish dry stout served on draft with nitrogen for a smooth, velvety texture.
Sweet Stout (Milk Stout): Known as sweet stout or milk stout, this style includes lactose (milk sugar) in the recipe. Because lactose is not fermentable by yeast, it gives the beer residual sweetness and a creamier texture. Sweet stouts usually range from 4% to 6% ABV, with rich flavors reminiscent of caramel, milk chocolate, and a pronounced milky sweetness. Historically, this stout was marketed as “nourishing” and was once recommended to convalescents and breastfeeding mothers (a now outdated practice).
Oatmeal Stout: As the name suggests, this style includes a portion of rolled oats in the recipe. The oats add characteristic roundness and smoothness, creating a creamy head and silky body. Alcohol content is usually 4–6% ABV. It features flavors of roasted grains, coffee, and chocolate with moderate bitterness. The overall impression is soft and satiny on the palate, which many enthusiasts enjoy for its comforting character.
Foreign Extra Stout (Tropical Stout): This style was originally brewed for export to warmer climates. Stronger in alcohol (often 6–8% ABV), these stouts withstood long sea voyages better. They feature a robust profile: a rich malty base, a solid hop content for preservation, and often a slight sweetness or more pronounced fruity notes. Sometimes called Tropical Stout, they may show hints of dried or exotic fruits alongside the classic roasted notes. Originally created for overseas markets, these export stouts played a major role in establishing stout in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
Oyster Stout: This curiosity originated in 19th-century England, where oysters were commonly eaten with a pint of stout. Brewers eventually began adding oysters (or their shells) directly during brewing. The result is a classic dark stout subtly enhanced with a mineral, saline touch. It retains the usual roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate flavors, but with a faint briny aftertaste that pairs surprisingly well, creating an original contrast between the oyster’s salinity and the stout’s roasted bitterness.
Other Notable Variants: Many stout variations exist. Coffee stouts and chocolate stouts intensify coffee or cocoa notes by adding brewed coffee or chocolate (or cocoa) during brewing, enhancing flavors already present in the malt. White stouts are a modern, intriguing experiment: pale-colored beers that retain the coffee and chocolate aromas of a stout by using cold-infused coffee or cocoa without dark malts that would color the beer. Lastly, the recent pastry stout trend deserves mention: rich dessert-inspired stouts brewed with ingredients like vanilla, cocoa, extra lactose, or coconut to evoke pastries. Whatever the variant, stout shows remarkable versatility while maintaining its dark, roasted character.

(Note: The Imperial Stout, a stout very high in alcohol and flavor intensity, is not detailed here as it is covered in a dedicated article.)

Can of Toxicité from Brasserie du Bas Canada partially poured into a glass. All set inside a church.

The Specific Brewing Process for Stouts

Stout is a top-fermented beer, meaning it uses an ale yeast fermenting at moderate temperatures (typically between 18 °C and 22 °C). In the brewery, its production follows the classic ale steps: first mashing, where hot water is mixed with crushed barley malts to extract fermentable sugars. The key difference is the use of a significant proportion of highly roasted malts during mashing, which darkens the wort to deep brown or black and immediately imparts intense aromatic compounds. Once the wort is obtained, it is brought to a boil (boiling) with hops added mainly for bitterness and beer stability. After boiling, the hopped wort is cooled, and yeast is added to start fermentation, consuming the sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Where stout brewing stands out is in the careful handling of dark malts throughout the process. Highly roasted malts slightly acidify the wort, which historically led brewers to adjust their brewing water (for example, Dublin’s carbonate-rich water suited stouts well). The extreme roasting of some grains (like unmalted roasted barley used in Irish dry stouts) can also require careful extraction to avoid excessive astringency. Brewers may add dark grains at the end of mashing or use a separate steeping to soften the profile.
After primary fermentation, stout is usually transferred to conditioning tanks for a few weeks of cold maturation. This resting period refines flavors and smooths aromas, especially in stronger stouts or those brewed with special ingredients. Some stouts are even aged for months in barrels (such as oak casks) to develop additional notes, a practice mostly seen with imperial stouts.
Finally, packaging can vary: draft stouts are often served with a nitrogen/CO₂ mix to create the dense, creamy head typical of the style, achieved through a special dispense system. Brewing a stout requires precise know-how to balance power and smoothness, with every step aimed at extracting the best from roasted grains without excessive bitterness while preserving the beer’s silky mouthfeel.

Bottle of Graceland from Equilibrium Brewery partially poured into a glass. All set inside a church.

Characteristic ingredients of stouts

Several key ingredients give stouts their distinctive profile:

Pale barley malts and roasted malts:
The base of a stout is usually made from pale barley malt (pale ale malt) to provide fermentable sugars, combined with a significant proportion of heavily roasted malts. These include chocolate malt, black patent malt, or roasted barley, which are kilned at very high temperatures until almost black. About 10–15% of the total grist often comes from these dark malts. Their use is crucial: they give stouts their ebony color and intense flavors of coffee, cocoa, toasted bread, and burnt caramel. The longer the malt is roasted, the darker the beer becomes, with more pronounced coffee and chocolate notes.
Roasted unmalted barley:
A hallmark of Irish stouts, part of the barley used can be roasted without prior malting. This raw roasted grain adds distinctive aromatic intensity and a characteristic dryness on the palate (contributing to the famous dry finish of a dry stout). Roasted unmalted barley also helps produce a particularly creamy and stable head. Its proportion is usually kept around 10% or less to avoid excessive astringent bitterness.
Subtle yet essential hops:
Although hops are not the star of a stout, they play a balancing role. Earthy and herbal varieties, often of English origin (such as East Kent Goldings or Fuggles), are traditionally used. They provide the bitterness needed to counterbalance malt sweetness and sometimes add faint spicy or floral notes. In a stout, hop aromas remain secondary: malt flavors dominate, with hops acting as background support rather than standing out on the palate. Note that modern American stouts may use more aromatic hops, but the result is still far less hoppy than an IPA, for example.
Top-fermenting (ale) yeast:
Since stouts are ales, they use Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains suited to warm fermentation temperatures. These top-fermenting yeasts work around 18–20 °C and can produce slight fruity esters. However, given the intensity of roasted malts, the yeast character often remains in the background in a classic stout. English or Irish strains are favored for their good attenuation (to fully ferment the sugars) while sometimes leaving a residual roundness. For higher-strength stouts, the yeast’s alcohol tolerance is also an important factor.
Optional adjuncts and additions:
Many stouts include extra ingredients to refine their texture or flavor. Oats are a common adjunct (see oatmeal stout) that enrich the body and add smoothness. Lactose (milk sugar) is used in milk stouts to provide unfermented sweetness. Some recipes incorporate unmalted wheat (to improve head retention), flaked barley, or various spices and flavorings. Craft brewers sometimes add vanilla, cocoa nibs, coffee beans, spices (chili, cinnamon), or fruits (coconut, cherry, raspberry in some pastry stouts) to create flavored stouts. While these additions fall outside traditional norms, they showcase the creativity surrounding the stout style. The main ingredient, however, remains roasted malt—the true soul of a stout.

Bottle of Double Shot (Guatemala Bella Vista) from Tree House Brewing Company partially poured into a glass. All set inside a church.

Typical flavor profiles

A stout delivers a true explosion of malty, roasted flavors. Tasting usually reveals aromas of freshly ground coffee, dark chocolate, and cocoa, sometimes caramel or molasses, along with notes of toasted bread or biscuit. These aromas come directly from the roasted barley grains, which release compounds similar to those found in roasted coffee or cocoa. Each sip of stout is a sensory journey through these roasted nuances, with possible hints of licorice, nuts, or even smoke (especially when peat-smoked malts are used in rare cases).

In the mouth, stout is characterized by a balance between malty sweetness and bitterness. The bitterness comes from both the hops and the heavily roasted grains, which can give a slight harshness reminiscent of black coffee. In a dry stout, this bitterness and the absence of residual sugars leave a short and clean final impression, very refreshing despite the aromatic richness. Conversely, in a sweet stout, lactose and caramel malts soften the whole and leave at the end of the mouth a sweeter and rounder sensation, evoking cappuccino or milk chocolate. The body of the beer is generally medium to full: one expects a broad texture, sometimes oily or syrupy for the strongest versions. The best stouts present a velvety texture, with rather low carbonation, which enhances the smoothness. The famous creamy head of draught stouts also contributes to the indulgent sensation. Visually, the color goes from very dark mahogany brown to opaque ebony (often, when tilting the glass, one can see deep ruby highlights under the light). The head is typically beige tending towards ivory, thick and persistent, clinging to the sides of the glass with each sip, a pleasure for the eyes as much as for the palate.

In summary, tasting a stout means enjoying a bouquet of rich, roasted flavors combined with moderate bitterness and a generous texture. This dark beer style offers a complex flavor profile where each variant brings its own touch: from the dry sharpness of an Irish stout to the chocolatey sweetness of a milk stout, through the smoothness of an oatmeal stout or the fruity intensity of an export stout. For the curious newcomer as well as the seasoned enthusiast, stout promises a unique, warm, and deeply satisfying tasting experience, reflecting its history and the craftsmanship of the brewers who shape it.

Sources :

Back to Beer style

History of Stout Beers

The Different Styles of Stout

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