Back to School #5 with Stouts

Because we missed the first World Class Beverages meeting which covered Porters and Stouts, we were lucky enough to get the notes. So when Matt of Matt's Beer Blog invited us out for a "Night of the Living Stouts", we took the opportunity to make up what we missed by having a session of our own.

Settle in, and pour yourself a drink. This is a long one.

Stouts

Porters and Stout originated in England in the 17th to 18th Century. Porters came first - stouts were stronger variations of porters. Beers in the stout category were once considered “Stout” porters. As an attempt to capitalize on Porter popularity, the number of these types of beers kept expanding and diversifying until they became worthy of their own category.

From a composition standpoint, roasted barley or black patent malt is usually added to provide dryness in stouts. Interestingly enough, modern versions are not always stronger than Porters.

Stouts are divided into six categories, which makes for a lot of sampling. These categories are Dry (Irish) Stout, Sweet (Milk) Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Foreign Extra Stout, American Stout, and Russian Imperial Stout.

Dry (Irish) Stout

According to BJCP guidelines, Dry Stouts may have prominent Coffee-like roasted barley and roasted malt aromas, with a slight chocolate, cocoa and/or grainy secondary notes. They typically have a thick, creamy, long-lasting, tan- to brown-colored head, with flavors featuring a light to moderate acidic sourness, and medium to high hop bitterness. BJCP also notes "For the high hop bitterness and significant proportion of dark grains present, this beer is remarkably smooth. Overall Impression: A very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale."

We had two examples for the Dry (Irish) Stout category. First up was Murphy's Stout.

Mike: Ashy, watery, heavy lacing, a little sweetness... forgettable.
Kelly: Watery, slightly tinny tasting.
Matt: Creamy texture, watery flavor.
Gina: My notes were "I don't like this". It was very thin and watery. I may have liked this more if it were my first beer of the night.

Our second example of the Dry (Irish) Stout style was Avery's Out of Bounds.

Kelly: Huge head, looks like a root beer float; heavy cardamom aroma.
Matt: Hop nose & flavor.
Gina: Tall, foamy head and hoppy smell that is very reminiscent of Pine Sol.
Mike: Better of the two in this style. Hoppy sting in the nose, piney front.

Sweet (Milk) Stout

Milk stouts have the same chocolate and coffee notes as Dry (Irish) Stouts, but also often feature a cream-like sweetness, and can even feature low to high fruit notes. A dark and full bodied ale, milk stouts often taste similar to sweetened expresso. On the title of the category, BJCP says "legally this designation is no longer permitted in England (but is acceptable elsewhere). The “milk” name is derived from the use of lactose, or milk sugar, as a sweetener."

Mackeson XXX Triple Stout

Matt: Roasty, malty, sweet.
Gina: Smells sweet, bready and like a candy necklace. Good.
Mike: TASTY! Smooth. BUY MORE!
Kelly: Viscous, hints of toasted coconut and whipped cream.

Oatmeal Stout

Oatmeal Stouts give off what BJCP calls "a coffee and cream impression", with coffee notes and a full bodied mouthfeel. Instead of the milk element found in sweet stouts, Oatmeal is used to provide complexity.

Goose Island Oatmeal Stout

Mike: Coffee and licorice nose, dark and coke-colored, full-flavored, malted milk, kind of like a mix of Left Hand Blackjack porter and the Mackeson. Grassy and earthy.
Kelly: Oatmeal cookie nose, something really sweet in the finish that I can't place -- maybe charred marshmallow?
Matt: Licorice, smoky.

Foreign Extra Stout

Foreign Extra Stouts feature strong roasted grain notes, and can also feature elements of coffee, chocolate and a lightly burnt taste. According to BJCP "Some versions may have a sweet aroma, or molasses, licorice, dried fruit, and/or vinous aromatics. Stronger versions can have the aroma of alcohol (never sharp, hot, or solventy)." This version of stout was originally brewed for tropical markets, and was brewed stronger for export.

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

Mike: This is like the beer I can't escape. It took me 6 months to finish the six pack in my fridge. Then we sampled it at Big Car. Then we reviewed it for a roundtable. And I don't like it.
Kelly: Bitter, acrid, malted milk.
Matt: Very smoky, something else I couldn't put my finger on, but couldn't properly describe
Gina: Back when we did the review of this I gave it a tentative score and said it would be better in colder weather. Well, I was wrong. The nose is still amazing and it still reminds me of an ashtray. I still cannot decide if I like this or not, so I am just going to go with not.

American Stout

American Stouts are brewed in much of the same manner as Foreign Extra Stouts, but feature the use of citrusy or resiny American Hops. BJCP says to expect the following as an overall impression "A hoppy, bitter, strongly roasted Foreign-style Stout (of the export variety)."

North Coast Old #38 Stout

Kelly: Roasty, peppery, on our to-buy list -- really drinkable.
Matt: Rroasty, malty, one of my favorites.
Gina: Roasted, malty, smooth.
Mike: Bitter, peppery, tasty.

Russian Imperial Stout

The most complex of stouts, the Russian Imperial Stout features many of the same characteristic of the other stouts covered above, but features a malt aroma that "can be subtle to rich and barleywine-like, depending on the gravity and grain bill. May optionally show a slight specialty malt character (e.g., caramel), but this should only add complexity and not dominate." (BJCP)

BJCP says to expect an impression that's "roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a noticeable alcohol presence. Dark fruit flavors meld with roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like sensations. Like a black barleywine with every dimension of flavor coming into play."

Deschutes Abyss

Matt: Sweet, smoke, malt, charcoal.
Gina: This has a great roasted, chocolaty, woody smell and the taste reminds me of a burnt campfire hot dog (but in a good way).
Mike: Smokey, with obvious alcohol notes, tasty with a big front. Instead of a punch you see coming, this is one you see going. A fantastic aftertaste lingers.

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A Dozen Beers with Matt from Matt's Beer Blog

Originally we were going to use portions of Jason's post in our next session of Back to (Beer) School, but cutting it up seemed to ruin the story. So here it is, uninterrupted. Stay tuned for Beer School #4 tomorrow.

A little less than a week ago, the Knights were invited to Matt's (of Matt's Beer Blog) home and do a porter and stout sampling event. It was a brilliant night that involved tasting 11 beers of varying quality. Having a slight case of OCD, I felt that not going for an even dozen beers would be irritating. Not having another bottle around, we opted to try the Kikkoman's Soy Sauce and pretend that it was a beer. But more about that venture later.

We began by tackling porters. First up was Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter, which has been determined by beer judges and beer websites to be the cream of the crop as far as English Brown Porters go. And this is one situation where tradition out performs American ingenuity and gusto. The balanced, roasted malt goodness from the Taddy Porter outperformed the Left Hand Black Jack Porter (listed as an English Porter) and the Sierra Nevada Porter (an American Porter). Both were unbalanced with odd lingering flavors (carbon notes in the Left Hand; soapiness in the Sierra Nevada).

The other porter that we tried was the 2000 Sinebrychoff Porter from Finland. This Baltic Porter, while not superior to the Taddy Porter, was interesting and enjoyable. The smell reminded me of my fourth grade lunch box (I left an orange in my lunch box over summer vacation, leaving a lasting moldy orange scent to everything that would go in it from that time on), but had a peatty taste like a good scotch. I would definitely try this one again in the future.

The next seven beers were stouts. We started with a Dry (Irish) Stout: Murphy's Stout. Unlike the porters, I find that the original/traditional versions pale in comparison to some of the American craft varieties. The Irish Stouts tend to have a watery consistency to them that, while not unpleasant, leaves you unfulfilled. Mackeson's Triple Stout (Milk Stout) had a sweetness to it and was milky smooth in mouthfeel. I found this to be uncomplicated yet enjoyable and worth another taste at some point.

The Avery Out of Bounds Stout (Irish Dry Stout) poured with a big head and notes of scotch, coffee, and hops. This was superior to the Murphy's in my opinion and should receive a full review in the future. The Goose Island Oatmeal Stout was bitter with hints of oatmeal. I've had better Oatmeal Stouts. The Bell's Special Double Cream Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout) has a smooth and dry mouthfeel with a certain twang in its flavor from the combination of malts used. The North Coast Old No. 38 (Irish Dry Stout) was yet another scotchy type stout that reminds me of some whiskey barrel aged beers that we have had in the past. Another one I want to discover again in the future.

We finished with the Abyss by Deschutes Brothers in Oregon, an Imperial Russian Stout that Matt traded a Dark Lord for. In my opinion, he came away the winner in that trade. I can't put my finger on what it is that I like about this beer. It is very alcoholly. It has a complex flavor profile. The best way I could describe this is like Dark Lord without the candy sugar taste and mouthfeel. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing. But that's just me.

So that is eleven beers. To make it an even dozen, we opened Matt's last bottle of Sam Adams Triple Bock (circa 1997, I think). Which doesn't fit into the porters and stouts category, but what the hell. The aroma (I really wanted to write odor) smelled of soy sauce. The taste was of soy sauce. It looked like soy sauce. And it stained Matt's clear glass drinkware a nice amber color. I seriously think this is better suited on top of fried rice that in a beer glass.

Holy crap, that was not good. How not good? I'd chug a Chelada over this any day of the week. Just goes to show that my OCD tendencies are never right, and no matter how odd a number to stop at, eleven was the clear winner on this day.