Stouts are a category of warm-fermented ale styles that are distinguished by their dark color, generally an opaque deep brown or black, as well as a distinct roasted character that is often perceived as dark chocolate or coffee. Both of these qualities derive from the use of roasted grains used to brew these beers. Traditional English stout recipes rely on bitterness from the roasted grain to provide a dry finish and consequently tend to show very little hop character. American craft-brewed versions, however, tend to have a bolder hop presence.

Postcard, c. 1910, showing an early example of the famed “Guinness is Good for You” marketing campaign. E. & J. Burke, a New York-based liquor importing company, bottled and distributed Guinness under a “Guinness Foreign Stout” label, and came to dominate Guinness exports to the United States. pike microbrewery museum, seattle, wa

Stouts, as we know them, evolved from the stout porter, which was a very popular style in London in the 1800s. Although the term “stout” first emerged in England in the 1700s to describe the high-alcohol, bolder-flavored version of any beer style, over time it became closely associated with the porter style. In the late 1800s, regular porters fell out of favor and the designation stout porter was eventually simplified to stout.

There are many different kinds of stout. The most widely known is the Irish dry stout, popularized by Guinness. Despite the dark color, draught Irish stout is generally a very light style, rarely exceeding the 4% alcohol by volume typified by Guinness. Another common style is oatmeal stout, in which oatmeal is added, resulting in a richer, silkier mouthfeel and full head. The sweet stout, or milk stout, brewed with the addition of lactose, has become less common since its heyday over a century ago. Other stout styles are growing in popularity today. Imperial stout, first brewed in England for Emperor Peter the Great of Russia, has become popular among craft brewers, particularly in the United States. These are usually above 8% in alcohol and the best examples are full bodied, rich, and complex and will often have flavors and aromas of dried fruit, coffee, and dark chocolate.

See also farsons lacto milk stout, imperial stout, milk stout, and oatmeal stout.