American Stout

ABV 5-7% · IBU 35-75 · SRM 30-40 · Serve 50-55F · Glass Nonik pint · Hops Citrus or pine

Identify

Jet black, occasionally very dark brown, and opaque. The head is large and persistent, light tan to light brown. The smell is the giveaway: roasted coffee and dark chocolate with citrus or pine sitting on top of it, which no traditional stout does. Roast leads, hard and dry. The body is medium to full, and the carbonation is livelier than an Irish Stout, so it prickles. The finish is where the style declares itself. Bitterness arrives from the roasted grain and from the hops at the same time, and it keeps going long after you swallow.

Place

The United States, from the craft and homebrewing revival that began around 1980.

Cause

Bitterness in beer usually comes from hops. In a dark beer it also comes from the roasted grain, which is bitter in the same way over roasted coffee is bitter. Most stouts pick one and lean on it. This style uses both. The guidelines describe the hop character as citrusy or resiny, and plenty of examples deliver exactly that.

Confused with

Irish Stout, which is a third weaker with no hop smell at all. American Porter, which is softer on the roast. Black IPA, which puts the hops in front and keeps the roast gentle. Imperial Stout, which is much bigger and sweeter.

Numbers

An American Stout is a traditional dark stout with an American hop charge added to it. The roast stays. The hops arrive on top, bringing grapefruit, citrus peel or pine. The bitterness goes up sharply, and the finish gets longer. Smell it first.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Strong black coffee, especially a dark roast with a bitter edge you enjoy rather than tolerate. Grapefruit, marmalade, or citrus peel. That is the hop smell, and it is genuinely the same family of aromas. Very dark chocolate, above seventy percent cocoa. A long finish.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

Delicate white fish, green salads, fresh goat cheese and light desserts. The roast and the bitterness roll over all of them. Raw oysters are the interesting near miss, since a dry Irish Stout is the classic match and this one is too bitter to leave a shellfish anywhere to go.