Before it was a stout, it was a porter. And before there was Stout Month, the style wasn’t getting enough love. Fittingly, many breweries have dedicated the lovers’ month to this ancient, versatile style of beer.
Stout was a word used to describe strong beers, like London’s dark porters, during the fourteenth century. It took on a style of its own in the 1730s, when Russian Imperial Stout hit the scene, and evolved about fifty years later when dry, also called Irish, stout emerged in the The Emerald Isle. Almost two centuries of brewing later, American brewers introduced fresh variations to the category — such as oyster, chocolate, and oatmeal stout.
Boulder’s Mountain Sun Brewing and its sister pubs Southern Sun, Under The Sun, and Vine Street Pub in Denver are celebrating the 21st anniversary of Stout Month with tap takeovers, collaborations with other breweries, and the debut of the Stout Month 2014 Homebrew Contest at the end of the month. See the list of stouts and events.
Mountain Sun’s first brewer, Jack Harris, suggested February for a month-long celebration of this complex beer style. It made sense to choose this month because February has been, and continues to be, one of the beer industry’s slowest months. And the dark, malty, sometimes roasty characters of stout are perfect for cold weather. “We’re able to turn one of the slowest months of the year into one of the busiest,” says Mountain Sun brewer Davis Brown. “But it’s not money-driven. It’s a celebration.”
Since its inception in 1993, Stout Month at Mountain Sun has become an institution. “We used to drive all the way to Oregon to pick up kegs of Obsidian Stout from Deschutes Brewing before they began distributing in Colorado,” says Brown. “We’ve gone out of our way to get stouts that aren’t readily available.”
Whereas Stout Month at Mountain Sun has featured stouts from around the world in the past, this year they are celebrating Colorado-brewed stouts. That change is a response to the rapidly growing number of breweries in the state making stouts, says Brown.
Another brewery that takes Stout Month seriously is Astoria, Oregon’s Fort George Brewery. The brewery hosts tap takeovers all over the state, rolls out new stouts in the taproom, and hosts the epic Festival of Dark Arts. This year the festival features fifty-five stouts on tap, an art gallery, a blacksmith forge, tattoo artistry, glass blowing, belly dancing, a cigar tent, fire dancing, stout-inspired cuisine, tarot card reading, and old-fashioned photography. The festival takes place this Saturday. Click here for tickets.
Happy Stout Month! Let us know what other Stout Month celebrations you suggest.