What does stout taste like?
Stout tastes like dark roast coffee and bittersweet chocolate with a toasty, creamy body; dry Irish stouts are light and easy, while milk and imperial stouts get sweeter and stronger.
Stout
coffee, chocolate, roasty and smooth
Stout gets its dark color and flavor from roasted barley and malt, toasted so far it tastes like coffee beans and cocoa. A classic dry Irish stout like Guinness is surprisingly light, about 4%, with a dry, roasty bite and a creamy head from nitrogen bubbles. Milk stouts add lactose (milk sugar), which makes them sweeter and rounder, like an iced mocha. Oatmeal stouts are silkier. Imperial stouts are the big ones, often 9% or more, and can taste like chocolate cake soaked in coffee.
Where you’ll see it
On draft at pubs (Guinness is the classic), on craft lists as milk, oatmeal, imperial or barrel-aged stout, and sometimes poured over ice cream as a beer float. Dessert menus pair it with chocolate.
Order it if you like black coffee and dark chocolate and want a beer that's more cozy than crisp.
Quick questions
- Is stout heavy?
- It looks heavier than it is. A dry Irish stout has about the same alcohol as a light lager. Imperial stouts are the genuinely big, rich ones.
- What's the difference between stout and porter?
- They're close cousins. Stouts usually lean more roasty and coffee-like, porters a little softer and more chocolatey, but breweries use the names loosely.