Today I want to talk about stout. This kind of beer leaves no one indifferent: you either fall in love with it from the first sip or simply don’t like it. I haven’t met a single person who would say that he doesn’t care whether to drink stout or not… So what is this magical beer?

For many people, stout is associated with the word Guinness. Probably because of its extraordinary popularity. In fact, there are different types of stout. What they all have in common is roasted malt. The color, by the way, is not always black; Guinness, for example, has a dark ruby color.

The British Museum keeps an Egerton manuscript, dated 1677, which reads, ”We will drink to your health both in stout and best wine!”. This is believed to be the first official mention of stout.

By the way, the first stout was not black, but… brown in color. It was only in 1817 that industrial equipment for roasting coffee beans was invented. Brewers also took advantage of this to roast barley malt.

By parameters, beers such as stout and porter are often very similar and, in some cases, they can even be confused. Naturally, the question arises, which is the older of these cousins, Stout or Porter? The legend about the origin of Porter says that this strong, full-bodied beer was intended for harbor porters. It served as an essential supplement to their diet. From the word Port, the name Porter is derived. Over the years, brewers began brewing an even stronger version of porter, called Stout Porter. After gaining popularity and recognition, Stout dropped the “porter” prefix and went solo.

Первые стауты отличались крепостью и полным телом, но… такое пиво много не выпьешь, и маркетологи стали принуждать пивоваров варить более лёгкий стаут, с небольшим количеством алкоголя. Так мы и пришли к современному классическому стауту Guinness. Очень тёмное, почти чёрное пиво в подсознании ассоциируется с высоким алкоголем, что, несомненно, добавляет гордости за себя, такого крутого! Высокая горечь, в отличие от сладкого пива тоже добавляет шарма. Это пиво, которое можно выпить очень много, беседуя с друзьями в баре. Невольно вспоминается старый анекдот:

– How much beer can you drink at a time, Father?

– Well, if it’s in the air, with a good appetizer, and for free… You could say an unlimited amount!…

Of course, these are just the dreams of marketers, who are right – they make money for the company. However, for those who think not only about the amount of beer they drink, there is another stout, somewhat different from the classic stout. Stout, as a type of beer, is divided into subgroups:

A common, dry stout, of which Irish Guinness and Murphy’s are classic representatives. It is a light, bitter, very drinkable beer with a low alcohol content.

Sweet Stout. A special non-fermentable sugar is added to give it a sweet flavor. It is also called milk stout or cream stout. This type of beer has a low alcohol content and a mild, sweet, creamy flavor.

Oatmeal Stout gets its name from the oatmeal added to the beer during brewing. It is an extremely pleasant beer; the oatmeal gives it a very full and delicate creamy flavor.

Foreign Extra Stout is a stout with a higher alcohol content and density. Originally, it was the name given to stouts that were not produced in the British Isles. The high alcohol content allowed this beer to be exported all over the world.

Russian Imperial Stout is a famous beer brewed especially for the Russian royal court. According to legend, this copper-brown beer was favored by Empress Catherine II and was characterized by high alcohol and density. Unfortunately, today this beer is produced by only a few breweries in the world. One of the reasons is its high production cost.

There are other ”offshoots” in the classification of statutes: chocolate malt, made from special ”chocolate” malt, oyster stout (oysters are added to it when boiled) and other…

As you have just realized, stout is not just Guinness and Murphy’s, stout is a whole world. And I hope that everyone will find the one, the only stout that should be with you always!