The king of dark beers, the stout himself has no rivals and before you continue to read this article, I must warn you that once you start to brew these, you won’t ever stop and your friends and family will keep asking you why you can’t be normal and just brew lagers as other people do.
No, I am pretty serious, once I heard about stouts and that I could make great stouts at home I only brewed batch after batch and my plastic fermenters almost became dark as night.
Halloween? Nutmeg stout, Christmas? Milk stout, Cold days in December? I am drinking Imperial stout, on the first day of spring? Oatmeal stout, Hot summer never-ending days? Dry stout.
As you can see, it was a never-ending stout story and I just couldn’t stop but come up with new recipes I had to try. When I didn’t have time to brew a batch, which happened rarely, I would buy Guinness from a store and contemplate how could I make a clone at home.
I may start to sound crazy, so I’ll shut it and get to the topic. What are the different types of stouts out there that you can brew at home? Let’s see what makes them special and how difficult are they to brew.
| Stout Type | ABV (%) | Characteristics | Defining Ingredients |
| Dry | 4-5 | Lightly balanced roast coffee flavor with notes of chocolate. Minimum sweetness and easier body than any other stout type make it easily drinkable. | Pale malt base Roasted barley Flaked barley |
| Oatmeal | 4-6 | A bit bigger bodied stout with standard taste profile but with the addition of oatmeal for increased viscosity that creates silky mouthfeel. | Pale malt base Roasted barley Chocolate malt Crystal malt Oatmeal |
| Sweet (milk) | 4-8 | Slightly sweeter and creamier than other stouts because of lactose addition. Chocolate notes are often highlighted. | Pale malt base Chocolate malt Lactose (usually a pound per 5 gallons) |
| Imperial | 8-12 | Noticeable alcohol, roast, and coffee taste. | Pale malt base Roasted barley Chocolate malt Black malt Crystal malt |
| Special addition (coffee, chocolate, fruity, spicy…) | / | / | Any type of stout + secondary fermentation additions like coffee beans, rose petals, berries, peppers, and chocolate extract. |
The ABV, ingredients, and taste profile can differ as it’s possible to make hybrids and tweak recipes but the table gives some average. There also aren’t hard rules on which hops to use as hops are primarily used for bittering and not for flavor. This is due to the fact that the complex profile of stouts (lots of special malts) mask hops or their flavor would be too much to taste along with all other existing flavors.
Let’s say a bit more about each style!
Dry Stouts
Dry stouts are probably the most commercial type of stouts as popular brands such as Guinness made a fortune and created an entire globally-recognized brand on this type of beer. Guinness also has other types of stouts and even some light beers but it’s obvious that this is their most famous beer of all time.
Dry stouts are fermented super dry, so the final gravity is desired low. They are light-bodied stouts with low/medium ABV (commonly 4.2%) with subtle aromas of coffee, dark chocolate, and roasted character followed by soft and creamy drinkability.
To be enjoyed at their peak, dry stouts greatly benefit from nitrogen, so usually, a gas mixture of 75% nitrogen and 25% Co2 is used to create a creamy, lasting head and only minor carbonation that follows as you drink them.
Another example and my favorite stout you can also find in stores is Belhaven, Scottish stout. These two influences made me fall in love with stouts, so after them, I started to explore different styles to see how deep the rabbit hole goes and whether will there be a stout I won’t like.
Oatmeal Stouts
As I explored stouts, I realized that they have so much in common with ingredients we all have in the kitchen like oatmeal.
You may not think that the addition of oatmeal could make such a big difference in stouts but it does as it makes stouts especially creamy with that silky taste you are familiar with when you enjoy your morning oatmeal with milk or water.
Oatmeal stouts are similar to dry stouts but are not always fermented so dry, and you can feel balanced sweetness with earthy and nutty flavors with mild notes of coffee, roasted notes, and medium bitterness.
When you enjoy oatmeal stout, you just can’t forget about the beautiful silky texture the oats create that compliments the rest of the expected flavors and aromas you expect in a stout.
Depending on how you like it you can increase the flavors of chocolate, or coffee as it can hardly go wrong.
Milk Stout (Sweet stout)
When we chat about oatmeal stouts, the milk stout also referred to as sweet stout is a logical mention which follows.
The milk stout is actually not made from milk for all of you who had a second thought when heard the word “milk”. So, don’t mix beer and milk as it won’t end up good and you’ll pray that you never had a glass of it 15 minutes later.
Milk stouts are brewed with an addition of lactose sugar which is one of the compounds in milk and this is where the name comes from! Lactose is a non-fermentable sugar, so the yeast can’t eat it and process alcohol and Co2 out of it. Lactose is added by the end of the boil as an addition that will increase the sweetness and texture of the beer.
Milk stouts aren’t supposed to be fermented as dry as possible, they give chocolate and coffee flavors followed by possible earthy or even fruity notes and firm bitterness you would find in dark chocolate. They are special because they are sweeter than any other stout and have a distinctive creamy texture.
You can brew these low/mid or high ABV depending on your liking as higher ABV will easily be masked with the sweetness. You can also make it sweeter or less depending on the preference and even add an addition of oats to give it a silky texture.
Imperial Stout (Export, foreign stout)
Imperial stout also known as export or foreign stout is the stout with a high ABV, typically above 8%. Imperial stout is almost identical to dry stouts in terms of flavors, texture, and mouthfeel but contains extra alcohol which is impossible to miss when you take a sip.
Imperial stout is too hard for some people, and I am not a fan either as I like to enjoy multiple lighter pints of stout and admire its roasted perfection.
However, if you need something strong with a distinctive alcohol flavor that dominates and has the qualities of dry stouts, it’s a great beer.
Imperial stouts are also known as export or foreign stouts because they were specially brewed with high ABV to endure long logistic projects when the beer would travel across Europe and be stored in warehouses in all kinds of conditions before arriving at its destination.
Hybrids
A few days ago from writing this article, I created and brewed a Sweet/oatmeal stout hybrid. Hybrids can be almost anything that in synergy creates something that has the best of both sides. In my case, I just couldn’t decide what I prefer more, so I created a hybrid and I only tweaked the ratio of grains and hops, slightly reduced the amount of oatmeal that would go in pure oatmeal stout, and added crystal malt which I wouldn’t usually put in Sweet stout, but would in the oatmeal style.
Perhaps If I added some blueberries in secondary it would have been interesting too, but I decided to skip the secondary additions this time.
As you can see, hybrids are fun and many beer recipes tend to take the best of different styles.
Special addition stouts
Chocolate
Chocolate stouts can be both sweet (milk) stouts or any other stout, but the focus is to create chocolate notes which can’t be missed. This is usually done in secondary when chocolate or cacao chips are added as it’s impossible to achieve a complete chocolate profile through malts only.
So, going all in with chocolate malt won’t give the stout that extra chocolate flavor as the name doesn’t truly present its flavor profile which is more of a roast, coffee flavor with notes of dark chocolate and bitterness.
It’s possible to create a stout that almost mimics the milkshake if you add enough lactose and chocolate too!
Coffee
Coffee is among the noticeable aromas in any stout that relies on lots of specialty grains such as roasted barley, and dark and chocolate malts, and Irish stouts are known for having a strong coffee character. However, it’s possible to increase the aroma by adding coffee in secondary and making it taste almost like a dark expresso.
Fruity
Fermenting at higher temperatures will usually produce esters that are related to the fruity aromas, but this is not what is meant by a fruity stout.
These stouts count on distinctive aromas of dark chocolate and coffee mixed with berries such as blueberries and raspberries as berries just fit in perfectly.
This is once again done after primary fermentation ends, so sometimes you can brew a stout and adjust the recipe along the way.
Spicy
And finally, spicy stouts can be any type of stout with the addition of peppers or spices like ginger which contribute not only to an interesting flavor profile but may also make your tongue burn. Some people like peppers in their beer and some don’t, but such experiments are a fun way to approach homebrewing and it’s possible to experiment in a secondary fermenter in small quantities.
Oyster
Yes, as weird as it gets they managed to make beer out of sea shells. I don’t know who thought it would be a good idea, but according to people who tried it, it’s not bad. This is the only type of stout I have never tried, but I must and then I will also brew one if I like it.
Oysters can be used in any type of beer for purposes of natural cleaning, as the clear beer means a better appearance and less sediment, but in stouts, they are used for flavoring purposes.
These stouts are typically like dry stouts but with added oyster and other sea aromas such as salt or herbs that are grown on the coastline and rocks.
Final take on
This article was supposed to introduce you to the world of different types of stouts, and I plan to do the same for other beer types. Exploring the possibilities is important when making beer, as most exciting ideas come when you already have information planted somewhere in your mind.
One day, you may wake up, smell the fumes from the neighbor who’s making oysters and get a desire to brew an oyster stout.
Keep exploring, and learning as there are around 500 beer types you must try, just remember to drink some water too, and the liver will be thankful.