Stout is a special kind of beer. Rather, it is not even beer, but dark ale with a strength of 7-8%, brewed based on hops, water, yeast and roasted barley or burnt malt. At the present stage of brewing development, many varieties of stout are known. The most common of these are three types: milk stout - a beer with a sweet cream flavor, an imperial stout with a strength of 7-10%, with a strong alcoholic taste, and the Baltic porter, which is a cheaper version of the imperial stout. Although the Baltic porter is more likely to belong to lagers rather than ales, it is traditionally believed that this beer is still one of the varieties of stout.
From ale to porter and stout
Stout beer was first mentioned in 1677 by the British Count Francis Henry Egerton. In his diary, Egerton speaks of the stout as a very strong beer, without specifying whether it is dark or light.
For the first time, dark beer was called a porter in 1721. This name received a drink brewed on the basis of fried malt. In a short time, he became so widespread that the brewers began experimenting with his fortress. The strongest of the varieties received was called the stout. From which it is clear that the stories of the appearance of the porter and stout are closely related. Today, the word stout is associated with any dark beer, regardless of strength.
First porter
The place of birth of the porter was Londo. It was in the capital of Great Britain in the 20s of the 17th century that dark beer was first brewed. Its popularity grew very quickly, which was explained by low cost and final price. It had a concentrated aroma, did not turn sour for a long time, and the more it was stored, the stronger it became. Over the course of five decades, porter exported exclusively from London. In 1776, they learned to cook it in Irish breweries.
The porter acquired its modern look only in the nineteenth century due to the use of black malt, invented in 1817 by D. Wheeler. It was the brewing of beer based on black malt, roasted at 200 degrees, that gave it a dark color, increased strength and a special sweet taste, characteristic of a modern stout.
The origin and translation of the word "stout"
Until the 14th century, the word stout was translated as brave, proud. Since the 18th century, it has come to mean strength. In those days, it was customary to call stout absolutely any sort of beer. Stout - a word designating in those days any strong ale, including pale. Much later, exclusively dark beer with a high strength began to be called so.
Unexpected application. Beer stout as a medicine
The popularity of light and dairy stouts rapidly increased when the First World War ended, and Britain became the focus of its spread. Over time, dark beer began to be much less popular, but the brewers did not give up, and in 1920, according to a marketing study conducted in England, it was found that a pint of beer significantly increased a person’s vitality. In accordance with this result, the slogan “Guinness is good for you” was coined.
Dark beer was recommended for use not only to healthy people, but also to those in the postoperative period, pregnant women, as well as blood donors. By 1980, most breweries were occupied in Britain, producing stout beer, with the largest percentage accounted for dairy.
The story of how and why stout became a Russian drink
At the present stage of the development of brewing, many varieties of dark strong ale are known. They differ in the degree of strength, different tastes and saturation of the shade. Stout is brewed in small batches, as it is generally believed that this drink is specific, and only connoisseurs and experts are able to evaluate it. Ironically, the Russian imperial stout is most rarely found on sale in Russia. This drink got its name thanks to the one who was the first to appreciate its merits. Russian dark stout - beer with high saturation, viscosity and a charcoal hue. Imperial status is almost black.
So, the first connoisseur of imperial ale was a great connoisseur and lover of beer - Empress Catherine the Second. It was to her court that the first deliveries of dark ale from Britain to Russia began to take place. The path that beer had to make in order to reach its consumer was not easy and long. The sea was the shortest road, and conditions unacceptable for beer during transportation turned it into a burda. In order to reach its consumer in proper form with high quality characteristics, beer had to be denser and stronger than traditional English stout. British brewers easily achieved this goal by increasing the alcohol content in the ale. Due to the increased strength, the drink not only acquired a more noble taste, but was also protected from various infections throughout the sea voyage, which greatly contributed to its long-term maturation.
As can be seen from the above, the imperial stout beer is characterized by a rich coal color, its foam is also darker than other dark ale varieties, it has a high density and is close to brown. Despite the fact that the Russian imperial stout is a strong drink, there is practically no alcohol taste in it, on the contrary, it has a velvety taste of malt and roasted barley, complemented by bright shades of prunes or raisins. In the varieties of imperial ale produced in the USA, notes of dark chocolate, caramel and coffee are also felt.
Imperial stout - a drink rich, rich and strong. An ideal time for a bottle of such beer is an autumn or winter evening, after a dank gloomy weather, a warming sweetish stout will be an excellent way to combat depression and spleen. It is customary to pour a drink into glasses with a special form designed to most clearly reveal the properties of dark strong beer. These glasses are called "snifter" and "pint." Food capable of highlighting the best features of the imperial Russian stout is cheese with pepper and well-done meat or a huge burger. Some connoisseurs also prefer to use this type of beer as a dessert drink with dark chocolate or sweet desserts such as tiramisu.
The Irony of Fate
Of the well-known Russian brewers, Baltika and the Beer Card have mastered the manufacturing technology of the imperial stout, but almost the entire volume of the dark strong beer they produce is exported. Therefore, on Russian shelves a bottle of imperial Russian stout can be found extremely rarely.
The closest in quality characteristics to the Russian stout, but a cheaper drink, is the Baltic porter. Rather, this type of beer is more similar to lager than ale, but many think otherwise. At the present stage, its production is established only in Poland.
Low alcohol stout species
Dark, low-strength beer drinks include Irish dry and oyster stouts. A distinctive feature of the Irish dark ale is the shades of coffee and roasted barley on the palate. The most famous drinks are Beamish, Murphy's (Murphis Irish Stout beer) and Guinness.
They can most often be found on the shelves of domestic stores. The main feature of the oyster stout is that a good handful of oysters is added during cooking. It's no longer a secret: oysters are an excellent
snack for beer, but added when brewing ale, they give it even more sophistication and piquancy. For the first time in the process of brewing, oysters began to be added to malt in 1929 in New Zealand, but in London it was only begun to be practiced by brewers in 1983. So the beer was born oster stout, dark ale with oysters.
Availability of the Irish stout in Russia
Recently, it has become much easier to drink Russian-made Irish stout. Today, this can be done without even leaving your home, if you buy a stylized original bottle of olive color in advance at the grocery store. The Khamovniki beer will be poured in an antique-styled vessel . The stout became closer to the Russian connoisseur after at the end of September last year, the Khamovniki Irish Stout beer was sold not only in draft form, but also in bottle form. Now you can fully enjoy it, not only in the bars of the country, but also spending time at home watching an interesting film.
Ale with the taste and aroma of milk chocolate
The sweetest dark ale is creamy, or as it is called differently - milk stout. Beer with this name usually has a low strength for a dark drink of 4-6%. It must be pasteurized after cooking, as it additionally contains lactose, which is not able to ferment with yeast during fermentation. Its sweet creamy taste is also due to its lactose content. The stout's barley aroma is light and pleasant, it is distinguished by coffee or chocolate notes.
Stout with a very thick foam
Less sweet than milk is oat stout beer. Lactose in it is replaced by oats. When cooking, 30% of the ingredients are exactly the grain, the addition of which gives the finished product a fabulous wheat, nut, and sometimes even fruity taste and aroma, in which you can also always find subtle notes of milk chocolate or cappuccino. Sometimes oats contribute to the appearance of noble beer bitterness and viscosity. The natural colors of oat stout are both light wheat and dark colors of deep-fried oats. A distinctive feature of the drink is a very thick foam.
Unusual flavor combinations
The most unusual among the varieties of dessert dark beer are chocolate and coffee. To get such tastes, modern brewers use special technologies. The pronounced chocolate flavor of the stout is obtained due to the special strong roasting of dark malt. In some varieties of this type of dark ale, chocolate or cocoa beans are added directly during cooking.
An unusually refreshing drink is coffee stout. It has not only a noble coffee taste and aroma, but also the invigorating effect characteristic of coffee beans. In the production of this type of ale, malt is roasted most strongly, until the appearance of a bright coffee taste and aroma. Interestingly, some brewers sometimes add not only coffee, but also chocolate, and even mint to this drink in order to obtain original taste characteristics. All these tricks lead to the invention of new types of coffee stout.
When and with what is it right to drink a stout?
As you know, in order to fully enjoy all the taste features of a particular drink, it is very important to choose the right occasion, time of its use and snacks. Beer stout has such a rich assortment of taste characteristics that many connoisseurs prefer to use it as an independent "dish", so as not to spoil the taste and fully enjoy the richness of the aroma.
Stout - the drink is usually strong, rich and viscous, it is not suitable for hot summer days, it is impossible for them to quench their thirst or cool. The lager meets these goals much better. Stout - a drink created to give pleasure, it should be drunk slowly and consciously. It has truly multifaceted quality characteristics that can even kill the taste of food if it is incorrectly selected. Typically, a stout appetizer is selected according to two main principles: similarity and contrast. For example, oysters will be an ideal option for a contrasting snack to dry Irish, milk, oat, coffee and chocolate stout. It was they who were traditionally eaten by the British and Irish under dark ale more than two hundred years ago. The brine taste and tenderness of oysters perfectly emphasize the sweetness of a saturated beer drink. A good addition to the rich bitter taste of the imperial stout will be a well-fried fatty meat dish such as pork or beef steak, stewed with duck dishes or slices of fried bacon.
Perfectly emphasized stout and cheese. And the fatter and more seasoned it is, the higher the stout lovers will appreciate it.
It is important to remember that almost any stout has, to one degree or another, sweetness. Dark ale will be an excellent accompanying drink for desserts such as tiramisu, ice cream, pudding, creme brulee or any sweet pastries.
The taste of any kind of stout will turn out to be no less rich if you drink it while eating a dish containing vanilla. On the contrary, it is undesirable to eat dark ale with salted dried seafood, such as squid or fish. They only cross out the rich, refined taste of ale.