Stout Weather!
Halloween!
Alright you ghouls and gals… it's that time of the year.
To be randomly scared by a person jumping out of something for no reason at all.
And you know what helps with that? BEER! Partly joking… though… you may want to move if this is actually happening to you fairly often…
In most parts of the country the weather has started to turn and is getting a little chilly. I guess you want to drink a Corona with Lime, eh? I hope you don’t mind if I slap you if you do this when it's near freezing. Again… partly joking.
Stouts, porters and darker beers absolutely get their spotlight during this time of the year. So I thought it would be fun to dig into dark beers and see what they are all about. Have no fear… I will hold your hand and then scare the bejesus out of you along the way. Let’s go!
Some Stouts are made by Wizards!
Stouts are an easy place to start because I will say that if you think of a dark beer… your mind should go to this style. This is also the main beer style that I will be talking about. It is kind of the flagship style for dark beers. Stouts tend to be on the higher ABV end but not necessarily always. Barrel aging has become a tad bit more common as years have gone by and you could probably go to a liquor store and find a barrel aged(BA for short from now on) beer without too much of a hassle. The quality of that beer though… all depends. Some BA beers are notorious and extremely rare to find. Then there are some BA beers where the brewery ONLY makes a certain amount due to how much they made. It’s kinda a toss up. Small batches do have an advantage over larger ones just due to the nature of volume. Much easier to manage the quality of something small over… well… you get it.
Barrel aging is one of those things that can absolutely change a beer… dare I say… transcend… the beer when done well. It’s all about knowing how long the beer should be in the barrel and whether or not the beer is a good fit for whatever barrel you are going to be using. I’ve seen Stouts aged in all sorts of barrels. You mainly find Whiskey ones are the most predominant just because there is a greater supply of them versus say… Sherry barrels. Another driver that we can see is similar to IPAs in regards to Hops! I will say that it is slightly different in that regard because barrels don’t grow on vines… but I think you get my drift. Market supply shapes the Craft Beer Industry whether it likes it or not.
One thing that you may notice if you sometimes look at the beer out there in the marketplace is that there has been a shift in the Stout market towards something called… Pastry Stouts. These are beers that are not barrel aged but tend towards the sweeter side of things just like it’s namesake. I have had some excellent beers in this category but I’ve also had some that would give me diabeetus. I would say the same thing that happens to Hazy IPAs… also happens here in Pastry Stout territory sadly. Its a weird trend. When the ‘Hot-New-Thing’ in the Craft Beer world explodes… you will get some excellent versions of the style and then… you will get a Stout called Wilfred Brimley.
So you may be wondering… well Brandon… “How can I not turn into Wilfred Brimley?” I would then say drinking one Pastry Stout wouldn’t give you diabeetus. I would also say that the app, Untappd, is your friend. Be wary though… like all things it's not 100% on everything. I would use it like any other tool when gauging the overall value of something. It is a good place to start though.
When you are out and about for Halloween and are looking for a good beer to start or end a night… maybe take a look at a Stout! Watch that ABV and I know you will have a most excellent night.
