Four Styles of Stout to Track Down This Stout Month

Emily Hutto and Dan Rabin, photo by The Brewtography Project

Beer and travel author Dan Rabin and RadCraft founder Emily Hutto, gave a talk at the Denver Press Club in November about the variety among styles of the beloved Stout beer style. Thanks again to The Press Club for having us, and thanks to Dan for this great idea. He wanted to convey the true spectrum that is Stout styles, and he's largely responsible for choosing the beer list below.

It should be noted that Dan was one of the first contributors to the #DailyStout campaign for Water for Good, too! 

Here are four varieties of Stouts, with examples of each style to boot. Happy Stout Month!

Dry Irish Stout: Carlow Brewing Co. (aka O’Hara’s Brewery) O’Hara’s Irish Stout, 4.3% ABV 40 IBU

This family-owned brewery began operating in 1996 as a pioneer in Irish craft brewing. While the Dry Irish Stout style is generally synonymous with Guinness, there’s a perception among many that the Guinness brewed today by the Irish corporate giant lacks the robust character of the Guinness of old. O’Hara’s Irish Stout is often described as “authentic,” “traditional,“ and “how stouts used to taste.” Indeed, the beer hits all the right notes stylistically with a smooth malt base, coffee-like roastiness, dry finish and low alcohol content conducive to partaking in multiple pints. Its flavors are best expressed when served cool, not cold.

Sweet Stout: Finkel & Garf Brewing Co. Oatmeal Milk Stout, 5.5% ABV, 36 IBU

Stylistically, this Boulder-brewed stout represents a hybrid of Sweet Stout and Oatmeal Stout. F&G is committed to subtlety and approachability in its beers, and this one in particular is brewed to debunk assumptions that dark and “sweet” beers are scary, chewy, or cloying. It has just the right roundness of roast, dark chocolate, and malt sweetness that washes down smooth and slightly sweet. The silky mouthfeel of this stout is created through the use of about 10 percent oats in its grain bill. F&G Oatmeal Milk Stout is the 2017 GABF gold medal winner in the Sweet or Cream Stout category.

Foreign Export Stout: Left Hand Brewing Co. Fade to Black Vol. 1, 8.5% ABV 30 IBU

Longmont’s Left Hand Brewing may be best known for its smooth milk stout, but the brewery’s seasonal Fade to Black Vol. 1 Foreign Export Stout has garnered its own collection of prestigious awards including three gold medals and one silver at the Great American Beer Festival, and a gold medal at the 2016 World Beer Cup. The beer is big, bold, complex and highly satisfying. As it warms, a variety of flavors emerge including coffee, chocolate, licorice and dark fruits. At 8.5%, it toes the line, but doesn’t quite enter the terrain of Imperial Stouts.

Imperial Stout: Great Divide Brewing Co. Yeti Imperial Stout, 9.5% ABV, 75 IBU

This beer is big in every way. Made by the home of Colorado’s original strong ale (Hibernation Ale, first brewed in in 1995), Great Divide’s infamous Yeti is a classic example of the Imperial Stout style, winner of three Great American Beer Festival awards in the Imperial Stout category. It’s a liquid balancing act between big, roasty malt flavor and bold hop flavor and aroma. Stout in general and specifically Yeti has been a great canvas for brewing creations, which at Great Divide have been an array of Yeti varietals including Espresso Oak-Aged and Oatmeal Yeti.

Lessons Learned From A Month of #DailyStout Tasting

Photo by Jeff Tyler

In Colorado, February is Stout Month. It’s a short but passionate 28 days dedicated to the full-bodied, roasty, coffee-esque, malt-forward wonder that is the Stout beer style.

I love Stout, but I don’t always reach for it over other styles. I also love a good challenge.

So when a friend suggested I fully explore this beer style by tasting a different Stout every day last February, I gladly accepted. And to what was often the chagrin of my partner, I did it.

I tasted a different Stout each day in February 2017 and documented the process on social media using hashtag #dailystout. I held myself accountable for tasting at least one different Stout every day. Thirst Magazine caught on to what I was up to and they published this article about my Stout recommendations.

Stout came to be my daily liquid bread— after a month I had discovered its versatility, and I craved it. When Stout Month ended, #dailystout did not. I kept tasting and researching the style. One year later, here’s what I’ve come to know about Stout…

• There is a style of Stout for everyone.

• Stout comes with a dark beer stigma, and the style is generally misunderstood— even among craft beer drinkers.

• Stout is not Porter.

• Stout Month is one of my favorite craft marketing campaigns.

• Stout is for whiskey lovers.

• Stout can develop incredible nuanced flavor and aroma over time, if you know a thing or two about cellaring beers.

• Stout is a food-friendly beer, perfect for pairings.

• Stout is a blank canvas for a cornucopia of abstract beer ingredients.

• Stout is scarce in island communities. More on that later.

• Stout is a foundation for good causes.

2018 Stout Month is upon us and the #dailystout ritual returns! This year it’s dedicated to raising funds for the conservation of clean water, a resource that the brewing industry continues to consume more and more of. I've recruited fellow Stout tasters too. 

Throughout the month of February, we're drinking #dailystout to raise funds for Water For Good. This organization creates long-term partnerships with communities in Africa, empowering them with sustainable access to clean water and transformational development solutions. Water For Good was a natural partner for our #dailystout campaign because Africa is responsible for much of the world’s production and consumption of Stout... And we think what they're up to is pretty rad.

Whether you can donate or not, we hope you’ll join the #dailystout hashtag on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to help us spread the word.

Cheers to Stout Month!

 — Emily Hutto, RadCraft Founder