Stout

Stoutis a type of darkbeerthat is generallywarm fermented, such asdry stout,oatmeal stout,milk stoutandimperial stout. Stout is a type ofale.
The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in theEgerton Manuscripts, referring to itsstrength.Porterswere brewed to a variety of strengths, with the stronger beers called "stout porters". The history and development of stout and porter are thus intertwined.
Porteroriginated in London, England in the early 1720s.The beer became popular in the city, especially with porters (hence its name): it had a strong flavour, took longer tospoilthan other beers, was significantly cheaper than other beers, and was not easily affected by heat.Within a few decades, porter breweries in London had grown "beyond any previously known scale".Large volumes were exported to Ireland and by 1776 it was being brewed byArthur Guinnessat hisSt. James's Gate Brewery.In the 19th century, the beer gained its customary black colour through the use ofblack patent malt, and became stronger in flavour.
Originally the adjectivestoutmeant "proud" or "brave", but after the 14th century it took on the connotation of "strong".  The first known use of the wordstoutfor beer was in a document dated 1677 found in theEgertonManuscript,the sense being that a stout beer was a strong beer. The expressionstout porterwas applied during the 18th century to strong versions of porter.Stoutstill meant only "strong" and it could be related to any kind of beer, as long as it was strong: in the UK it was possible to find "stout pale ale", for example. Later,stoutwas eventually to be associated only with porter, becoming a synonym of dark beer.
Because of the huge popularity of porters, brewers made them in a variety of strengths. The beers with higher gravities were called "Stout Porters".  There is still division and debate on whether stouts should be a separate style from porter. Usually the only deciding factor is strength.
"Nourishing" and sweet "milk" stouts became popular in Great Britain in the years following theFirst World War, though their popularity declined towards the end of the 20th century, apart from pockets of local interest such as in Glasgow with Sweetheart Stout.
Beer writerMichael Jacksonwrote about stouts and porters in the 1970s, but in the mid 1980s a survey byWhat's Brewingfound just 29 brewers in the UK and Channel Islands still making stout, most of them milk stouts.In the 21st century, stout is making a comeback with a new generation of drinkers, thanks to new products from burgeoningcraft and regional brewers.
Milk stout(also calledsweet stoutorcream stout) is a stout containinglactose, a sugar derived from milk. Because lactose cannot be fermented bybeer yeast, it adds sweetness and perceived body to the finished beer.
The milk stout has historically been claimed to be nutritious, advertised to nursing mothersas helping to increase their milk production.An archetypical surviving example of milk stout isMackeson's,for which the original brewers advertised that "each pint contains the energisingcarbohydratesof 10 ounces [1/2 pint, 284 ml] of pure dairy milk."  The style was rare until being revived by a number ofcraft breweriesin the twenty-first century.
Well known examples include the Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, theLeft Hand Milk Stoutand the Lancaster Milk Stout.
There were prosecutions inNewcastle upon Tynein 1944 under the Food and Drugs Act 1938 regarding misleading labelling of milk stout.
With sweet stouts becoming the dominant stout in the UK in the early 20th century, it was mainly in Ireland that the non-sweet or standard stout was being made. As standard stout has a drier taste than the English and American sweet stouts, they came to be calleddry stoutorIrish stoutto differentiate them from stouts with added lactose or oatmeal.This is the style that represents a typical stout to most people.The best selling stouts worldwide are Irish stouts made byGuinness(now owned byDiageo) atSt. James's Gate Brewery(also known as the Guinness Brewery) inDublin. Guinness makes a number of different varieties of its Irish stouts.Other examples of Irish dry stout includeMurphy'sandBeamish, now both owned byHeineken.Native Irish stouts are brewed by independentIrish craft breweries, most of whom include a stout in their core ranges. Draught Irish stout is normally served with anitrogenpropellant in addition to thecarbon dioxidemost beers use, to create a creamy texture with a long-lasting head.Some canned and bottled stouts include a special device called a "widget" to nitrogenate the beer in the container to replicate the experience of the keg varieties.
There were no differences between stout and porter historically,though there had been a tendency for breweries to differentiate the strengths of their beers with the words "extra", "double" and "stout". The termstoutwas initially used to indicate a stronger porter than other porters from a brewery.
Oatmeal stoutis a stout with a proportion ofoats, normally a maximum of 30%, added during the brewing process.
Even though a larger proportion of oats in beer can lead to a bitter or astringent taste,during themedievalperiod in Europe, oats were a common ingredient in ale,and proportions up to 35% were standard. Despite some areas of Europe, such as Norway, still clinging to the use of oats in brewing until the early part of the 20th century, the practice had largely died out by the 16th century, so much so that in 1513Tudorsailors refused to drink oat beer offered to them because of the bitter flavour.
There was a revival of interest in using oats during the end of the 19th century, when (supposedly) restorative, nourishing and invalid beers, such as the later milk stout, were popular, because of the association ofporridgewith health.Maclay of Alloa produced an Original Oatmalt Stout in 1895 that used 70% "oatmalt", and a 63/- Oatmeal Stout in 1909, which used 30% "flaked (porridge) oats".
In the 20th century, many oatmeal stouts contained only a minimal amount of oats. For example, in 1936 Barclay Perkins Oatmeal Stout used only 0.5% oats.As the oatmeal stout was brewed in  a parti-gyle process with their porter and standard stout, these two also contained the same proportion of oats. (Parti-gyle brewing involves extracting multiple worts from a single mash through separate sparges. Each subsequent sparge extracts a more diluted lower gravity wort from the same ingredients in proportion. As a result each wort is boiled and fermented to produces a different strength beer from same ingredients) The name seems to have been a marketing device more than anything else. In the 1920s and 1930s Whitbread's London Stout and Oatmeal Stout were identical, just packaged differently. The amount of oats Whitbread used was minimal, again around 0.5%.With such a small quantity of oats used, it could only have had little impact on the flavour or texture of these beers.
Many breweries were still brewing oatmeal stouts in the 1950s, for example Brickwoods in Portsmouth, Matthew Brown in Blackburn and Ushers in Trowbridge.When Michael Jackson mentioned the defunct Eldrige Pope "Oat Malt Stout" in his 1977 bookThe World Guide to Beer, oatmeal stout was no longer being made anywhere, butCharles Finkel, founder of Merchant du Vin, was curious enough to commissionSamuel Smithto produce a version.Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout then became the template for other breweries' versions.
Oatmeal stouts do not usually taste specifically of oats. The smoothness of oatmeal stouts comes from the high content of proteins, lipids (includes fats and waxes), and gums imparted by the use of oats. The gums increase the viscosity and body adding to the sense of smoothness.
Oystershave had a long association with stout. When stouts were emerging in the 18th century, oysters were a commonplace food often served inpublic housesand taverns. By the 20th century, oyster beds were in decline, and stout had given way topale ale. Ernest Barnescame up with the idea of combining oysters with stout using an oyster concentrate made by Thyrodone Development Ltd. inBluff, New Zealand, where he was factory manager.It was first sold by the Dunedin Brewery Company in New Zealand in 1938, with the Hammerton Brewery in London, UK, beginning production using the same formula the following year.Hammerton Brewery was re-established in 2014 and is once again brewing an oyster stout.
Modernoyster stoutsmay be made with a handful of oysters in the barrel, hence the warning by one establishment, thePorterhouse Breweryin Dublin, that their award-winning Oyster Stout was not suitable for vegetarians.Others, such asMarston'sOyster Stout, use the name with the implication that the beer would be suitable for drinking with oysters.
Chocolate stoutis a name brewers sometimes give to certain stouts having a noticeabledark chocolateflavour through the use of darker, more aromaticmalt; particularly chocolate malt—a malt that has been roasted orkilneduntil it acquires a chocolate colour. Sometimes, as with Muskoka Brewery's Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout,Young'sDouble Chocolate Stout, andRogue Brewery's Chocolate Stout, the beers are also brewed with a small amount of chocolate, chocolate flavouring, or cacao nibs.
Imperial stout, also known asRussian imperial stout(sometimes abbreviated asRIS), is a stronger stout. The style originated in 18th-century London, created byThrale's Anchor Breweryfor export to the court ofCatherine II of Russia.In 1781 the brewery changed hands and the beer became known as "Barclay Perkins Imperial Brown Stout".It was shipped toRussiabyAlbert von Le Coqwho was awarded a Russianroyal warrantwhich entitled him to use the name "Imperial".Historical analyses from the time period of 1849 to 1986 show that the beer had anoriginal gravitybetween 1.100 and 1.107 and an alcohol content of around 10% ABV. This remained virtually unchanged over the whole time period.A recipe from 1856 also indicates that it was hopped at a rate of 10poundsof hops to thebarrel(28 g/L). When Barclay's brewery was taken over byCouragein 1955, the beer was renamed "Courage Imperial Russian Stout" and it was brewed sporadically until 1993.The bottle cap still said "Barclay's".
In Canada, Imperial Stout was produced inPrince Albertfirst by Fritz Sick, and then byMolsonfollowing a 1958 takeover.Denmark's Wiibroe Brewery launched its 8.2 per cent Imperial Stout in 1930.The first brewery to brew an Imperial Stout in the United States was Bert Grant'sYakima Brewing.
Imperial stouts have a high alcohol content, usually over 9%abv, and are among the darkest available beer styles.Samuel Smith'sbrewed a version for export to theUnited Statesin the early 1980s, and today Imperial stout is among the most popular beer styles with U.S.craft brewers.American interpretations of the style often include ingredients such as vanilla beans, chili powder, maple syrup, coffee, and marshmallows. Many areaged in bourbon barrelsto add additional layers of flavour.The word "Imperial" is now commonly added to other beer styles to denote a stronger version, henceImperial IPAs,Imperial pilsnersetc.
A similar beer style,Baltic porter, originated in theBaltic regionin the 19th century. Imperial stouts imported from Britain were recreated locally using local ingredients and brewing traditions.
A pastry stout refers to a sweet stout style which is brewed to emulate the taste of variousdesserts.Manybrewerieswho produce pastry stouts will experiment with flavours such as chocolate, marshmallow, maple syrup, vanilla or fruit.