The other day I was approached in the beer aisle by a customer looking for Stout. I was immediately fired up to get into the wonderful world of stout beer with an eager drinker.
Stout has really come into a style of its own, but was originally the term for the strongest (or stoutest) porters. Today stout is of the darkest of the ales, made with dark roasted malt and often lots of hops. Stout generally has a rich flavor, a full body, is quite hearty but is not necessarily that high in abv, anywhere from 4-10+% (originally the ‘stout’ porters were ~8%).
I began to think more about stout today when the guy I was speaking with began to explain that he was well aware of many of the options but, as a person who likes to drink stout, wanted a 6 pack of something worth his time and money. As a few top-tier 4 packs came to mind: Old Rasputin, Ten Fiddy, Dark Truth, Brooklyn Black Chocolate, I realized that I was only 2/3s of the way to answering his question. Continue reading A fundamental style turned elitist?
