Stout beers are a type of ale that are darker and tend to have a higher alcohol content than other beers. Due to this fact, they tend to be stronger and heavier than most. Stouts are made using roasted malt or barley and top fermenting yeast. They are one type of beer that has brands that are served warm, as well as, chilled. There are several types of stout beer, including imperial, oatmeal, dry, chocolate, and coffee. Here are some of my favorite stouts of all time:
10. Chicory Stout, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (5.20% Alcohol By Volume) – Chicory Stout is one of the many beer brewed by the successful American craft brewery Dogfish Head. It is also one of my favorites of their beers. The Chicory Stout has a dark, chocolaty color. Its aroma is complex, consisting mostly of bittersweet chocolate and coffee. It has a nice smooth taste with sweet chocolate and coffee leading the charge of complex flavors. This one is quite delicious.
9. Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, Samuel Smith Old Brewery (5.00% ABV) – This English import is a very good oatmeal stout. It is dark black in color with a sweet aroma of chocolate and coffee and maybe a hint of citrus. This one has a full bodied, complex flavor. You are first hit with some roasted malt flavor, followed by a sweet chocolaty flavor, and finally finished off with some smoky, earthy tones. This is one of the best oatmeal stouts out there.
8. Murphy’s Irish Stout, Murphy Brewery Ireland Limited (4.00% ABV) – This one is an Irish Dry Stout, and a good one at that. Murphy’s is black in color with a tan head. It has a sweet, nutty chocolate aroma. The taste is smooth and sweet, with some nice caramel flavors and a wonderfully bitter finish.
7. Sam Smith’s Imperial Stout, Samuel Smith Old Brewery (7.00% ABV) – This Imperial Stout is a dark brown with a light coffee colored head. It has a sweet chocolaty aroma with a hint of nuttiness. It has a nutty flavor, with some hints of chocolate, and a slightly bitter finish.
6. Shakespeare Stout, Rogue Ales Brewery/ Brewer’s on the Bay (6.00% ABV) – Shakespeare is an American Stout and one of Rogue’s best. This one is thick and dark in color with an espresso colored head. The aroma is sweet and earthy with the scent of chocolate and just a hint of citrus. It tastes like dark chocolate with a little earthy, nutty flavor and a little bit of a bitter finish.
5. Oatmeal Stout, Goose Island Brewery (5.10% ABV) – The Oatmeal Stout from the Chicago, Illinois brewery is one of the best available. It is dark amber in color and smells like coffee, chocolate, and a hint of oats. This beer is thick and smooth. The primary taste is coffee, with some hints of chocolate, and a smoky, nutty flavor. It has just a slight bitterness at the end. This one is a very good oatmeal stout.
4. Sam Adams Cream Stout, Boston Beer Company (4.69% ABV) – The Cream Stout is one of my favorites of Sam Adam’s specialty brews. This beer is dark brown in color with a tan head. The aroma is mostly chocolate with some hints of caramel. It tastes sweet with the malts and chocolate overwhelming everything else. It does not have a lot of bitterness.
3. Chocolate Stout, Rogue Ales Brewery / Brewer’s on the Bay (6.00% ABV) – This Chocolate Stout is one of my favorite beers and by far my favorite from the Rogue Brewery. The beer is deep brown in color with a tan head. Chocolate is the primary aroma on this one with just some hints of nut and coffee. Like the name suggests, this one tastes like chocolate. It has some nice sweetness and just a hint of bitterness.
2. Sierra Nevada Stout, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (5.80% ABV) – Sierra Nevada is one of my favorite breweries and their Stout beer is fantastic. This one is almost black in color with a nice, tan head. The aroma is of wonderful roasted malts, with some chocolate, and just a hint of fruitiness. It has a nice, thick, complex flavor. The roasted malts are the dominant flavors, with some hints of chocolate, and a tangy, bitter taste at the end. This is a wonderful stout.
1. Guinness Extra Stout, Guinness Limited (6.0% ABV) – Guinness is probably one of the most famous stout beers and is also my favorite. The color is dark black with a light brown head. The aroma is dominated by roasted grains and coffee. The taste is wonderful and heavy. It tastes primarily of roasted malts, but has some nice coffee flavor to it. It is slightly bitter with the first taste and has a sweet finish. There is a reason this is the most popular stout out there. It is delicious.
