It’s that time of year again at Mountain Sun in Boulder. You can choose from about 10 malty black stouts like Coconut Cream, Dropkick, Coffee Imperial Stout, Oak Aged Yeti. Being stouts, many of these have 7 – 8 percent alcohol content. I sampled three– Stoked Oak, Nihilist (an 8 ouncer) and Oak Bourbon Stout.
I came home and did a little research on the origin of stouts. Stouts have been around since the late 1600s, named for the strongest or “stoutest” of the brews. Stouts are an outgrowth of porters, called porters in 1721 because street and river porters liked the dark beer. Imperial stouts have an alcohol content of 9 percent or higher because they were made in the 18th century to be exported from London to Russia (to tolerate the cold Baltic temps without freezing). Difference between stouts and porters? Stout is a stronger porter than other porters…but apparently this is a controversial topic among brewmasters.
Back to Stout Month…Nihilist might be my favorite. But I will surely be returning soon for the signature special barrel this year, Girl Scout Cookie Stout, which is mint chocolate and allegedly to die for. It’s hard to imagine two more sacred things coming together, thin mints and beer!
I’m not going to lie, I was disappointed by the Girl Scout stout. A little too minty for me (first few sips are pretty good, but it loses its luster by the end). The Coconut Cream stout on nitro–now that was smoooooooth and a.w.e.s.o.m.e.