Stout beer: history, types

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Stout is a special kind of beer. Rather, it is not even beer, but a dark ale with a strength of 7-8%, brewed on the basis of hops, water, yeast and roasted barley or roasted m alt. At the current stage of development of brewing, many varieties of stout are known. The most common of these are three types: milk stout - a beer with a sweetish-creamy taste, imperial stout 7-10% ABV, which has a sharp alcohol taste, and B altic porter, which is a cheaper version of imperial stout. And although the properties of the B altic porter are more likely to be lagers than ales, it is traditionally considered 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 Earl Francis Henry Egerton. In his diary, Egerton refers to stout as a very strong beer, without specifying whether it is dark or light.

The first dark beer was called porter in 1721. This name was given to a drink brewed on the basis of roasted m alt. In a short time it became so widespread that brewers began to experiment with its strength. The strongestfrom the resulting varieties was called stout. From which it can be seen that the stories of the appearance of porter and stout are closely related. Today, any dark beer, regardless of strength, is associated with the word stout.

First porter

Porter was born in Londo. It was in the capital of Great Britain that dark beer was first brewed in the 20s of the 17th century. Its popularity grew very quickly, due to its low cost and final price. It had a concentrated aroma, did not sour for a long time, and the more it was stored, the stronger it became. For five decades, porter was exported exclusively from London. In 1776, Irish breweries also learned how to brew it.

Porter acquired its modern look only in the nineteenth century thanks to the use of black m alt invented in 1817 by D. Wheeler. It was the brewing of beer based on black m alt, roasted at 200 degrees, that gave it a dark color, increased strength and a special sweetish taste characteristic of modern stout.

Origin and translation of the word "stout"

Until the 14th century, the word stout was translated as brave, proud. Beginning in the 18th century, it began to denote strength. In those days, it was customary to call absolutely any kind of beer a stout. Stout is a word that in those days meant any strong ale, including pale. Much later, exclusively dark beer with a high strength began to be called this way.

An unexpected application. Beer stout as medicine

The popularity of light and milk stoutsincreased rapidly after the end of the First World War, and Great Britain became the focus of its distribution. Over time, dark beer became much less in demand, but the brewers did not give up, and in 1920, according to the results of a marketing study conducted in England, it was found that a pint of beer significantly raised a person's vitality. In line with this result, the slogan "Guinness is good for you" was coined.

Dark beer was recommended for consumption not only by he althy people, but also by those in the postoperative period, pregnant women, and blood donors. By 1980, most of the breweries in Britain were busy producing stout beer, with the largest percentage being dairy.

The story of how and why stout became a Russian drink

At the present stage of 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 commonly believed that this drink is specific, and only connoisseurs and connoisseurs are able to appreciate it. The most rare on sale in Russia is, ironically, the imperial Russian stout. This drink got its name thanks to the one who was able to first appreciate it. Russian dark stout is a beer with increased saturation, viscosity and charcoal tint. Imperial status is almost black.

So, the first connoisseurImperial ale became a great connoisseur and lover of beer - Empress Catherine II. It was to her court that the first deliveries of dark ale from Britain to Russia began. The path that beer had to travel to reach its consumer was not easy and long. The shortest route was the sea, and the unacceptable conditions for beer during transportation turned it into a burda. In order to reach its consumer in the proper form with high quality characteristics, the beer had to be denser and stronger than the traditional English stout. British brewers easily achieved this goal by increasing the alcohol content of ale. Thanks to the increased strength, the drink not only acquired a nobler taste, but was also protected from various infections throughout the sea voyage, which greatly contributed to its long maturation.

As can be seen from the above, imperial stout beer is characterized by a rich charcoal color, its foam is also darker than that of other dark ales, it has a high density and is close to brown. Despite the fact that Russian imperial stout is a strong drink, there is practically no alcohol taste in it; on the contrary, it has a velvety taste of m alt and roasted barley, complemented by bright shades of prunes or raisins. There are also hints of dark chocolate, caramel, and coffee in US-produced imperial ales.

Imperial stout is thick, rich and strong. The perfect time for a bottle of thisbeer is an autumn or winter evening, after a dank gloomy weather, a warming sweetish stout will be an excellent way to combat depression and blues. It is customary to pour the drink into glasses with a special shape, designed to most clearly reveal the properties of dark strong beer. Such glasses are called "snifter" and "pint". Foods that can bring out the best features of an imperial Russian stout are cheeses with peppers and well-done meats or a huge burger. Some connoisseurs also prefer to drink this type of beer as a dessert drink with dark chocolate or sweet desserts like tiramisu.

Twist of Fate

Of the well-known Russian brewers, B altika and Pivnaya Karta have mastered the technology of making imperial stout, but almost the entire volume of dark strong beer they produce is exported. Therefore, a bottle of imperial Russian stout is extremely rare on Russian shelves.

The closest in quality characteristics to Russian stout, but cheaper drink, is the B altic porter. Rather, this type of beer is more similar to lager than ale, but many people think otherwise. At the present stage, its production has been established only in Poland.

Low alcohol types of stout

Dark, low-strength beers include Irish dry and oyster stouts. A distinctive feature of the Irish dark ale are shades of coffee and roasted barley on the palate. The most famous drinks are Beamish, Murphy's (Murphy's Irish Stout beer) and Guinness.

They are most often found on the shelves of domestic stores. The main feature of the oyster stout is that a good handful of oysters are added when it is boiled. It has long been no 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 brewing process, oysters began to be added to m alt in 1929 in New Zealand, while in London this practice began to be practiced by brewers only from 1983. Thus was born the Auster Stout, a dark ale with oysters.

Availability of Irish Stout in Russia

Recently, drinking a Russian-made Irish stout has become much easier. Today, this can be done without even leaving home, if you purchase a stylized original olive bottle in advance in a grocery store. Khamovniki beer will be poured into an antique-style vessel. The stout became closer to the Russian connoisseur after Khamovniki Irish Stout was sold not only in draft form, but also in bottles at the end of September last year. Now you can fully enjoy it not only in the bars of the country, but also while spending time at home watching an interesting movie.

Ale with milk chocolate flavor and aroma

The sweetest dark ale is cream, or as it is called otherwise - milk stout. Beer with this name usually has a low alcohol content of 4-6% for a dark drink. It must be pasteurized.after boiling, as it additionally contains lactose, which is not able to ferment with yeast during the fermentation process. Its sweet creamy taste is also due to its lactose content. The barley aroma of the stout is light and pleasant, it is distinguished by coffee or chocolate notes.

Stout with very thick foam

Less sweet than milky is oatmeal stout beer. Lactose in it is replaced by oats. When cooking, 30% of the ingredients are grains, the addition of which gives the finished product a fabulous wheat, nutty, and sometimes even fruity taste and aroma, in which you can also always find easily perceptible notes of milk chocolate or cappuccino. Sometimes oats contribute to the appearance of noble beer bitterness and viscosity. The natural colors of oatmeal stout are both light wheaten and deep roasted oats. A distinctive feature of the drink is a very thick foam.

Unusual flavor combinations

The most unusual dessert dark beers are chocolate and coffee beers. To obtain such tastes, modern brewers use special technologies. The pronounced chocolate taste of the stout is obtained due to the special strong roasting of dark m alt. In some varieties of this type of dark ale, chocolate or cocoa beans are added directly during brewing.

Coffee stout is recognized as an unusually refreshing drink. It has not only a noble coffee taste and aroma, but also an invigorating effect, characteristic of coffee beans. In the production of this type of ale, the m altroasted most strongly, up to emergence of bright coffee taste and aroma. Interestingly, some brewers, in order to obtain original taste characteristics, also sometimes add not only coffee, but also chocolate, and even mint to this drink. All these tricks lead to the invention of new types of coffee stout.

When and with what 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 for its use and snacks. Stout beer has such a rich assortment of flavor 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 is usually a strong, rich and viscous drink, it is not suitable for hot summer days, it is impossible for them to quench their thirst or cool down. Lager is much better suited to these goals. Stout is a drink designed 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. Usually, an appetizer for a stout is chosen according to two main principles: similarity and contrast. For example, oysters are an ideal contrast snack option for dry Irish, milk, oatmeal, coffee and chocolate stouts. They were traditionally eaten by the British and Irish under dark ale more than two hundred years ago. The brine taste and tenderness of oysters emphasize the sweetness in the best possible way.rich beer drink. A well-done, fatty meat dish such as pork or beef steak, spiced duck stew, or fried bacon slices is the perfect complement to the rich bitter taste of an imperial stout.

Perfectly emphasizes stout and cheese. And the fatter and more seasoned it is, the more stout lovers will appreciate it.

It's important to remember that almost every stout has some degree of sweetness. Dark ale makes a great accompaniment to desserts like tiramisu, ice cream, pudding, creme brulee or any sweet pastry.

No less rich will be the taste of any kind of stout if you drink it with a meal containing vanilla. On the contrary, it is undesirable to use dark ale with s alted dried seafood, such as squid or fish. They will only cross out the rich, refined taste of the ale.