Michigan Beer Guide, The Guide To Craft Brewed Beer in Michigan

The Irish Stout
Written By: Rex Halfpenny

There´s no question about what stout means in today´s beer vernacular, just as there is no doubt about who’s the world´s leading stout producer. But since St. Patrick´s Day is the key event this month, a closer look at the rich black ale from the Emerald Isle is just too good to pass up.
Guinness Stout and Saint Patrick´s Day are so closely tied together that one could be led to believe that the drinking holiday so widely celebrated in the US (and not nearly so celebrated in Ireland) is but a carefully laid out marketing strategy put forth by one of the world’s largest brewers. (Imagine if Anheuser-Busch had a day so widely celebrated. But then, with nearly 50 percent market share, everyday is such a day for AB.)
What´s the story about stout? Where did it come from? Is stout the only Irish drink? And what is the role of Guinness in all this?
It is generally accepted that stout was born from porter. Though, in reference to beer, the word “stout” actually predates “porter.” Historical records dating to the 17th century often mention stout. At least one record documents drinking stout in America in the year 1702. In John Bickerdyke´s work, "The Curiosities of Ale & Beer" (© 1889, London) we find this definition: “The name stout was used originally to signify strong or stout beer.” But did stout really simply mean strong beer? Couldn´t stout have been used to signify a dark beer, strong or otherwise?
When the term and the style of porter came to be is not really known, but many beer historians refer to a story about the ale we now call porter as being invented in or about the year 1722. The story says that a man named Ralph Harwood lamented about the popular drinking choice at the time: a combination of two or more portions of different casks drawn into a single pot. Each cask was of different ales and/or beers (beers at the time meant hopped). A pot of two choices was called half-and-half. If three were requested, it was called three-thirds, or three-threads. The effort of drawing beer from cask to cask was relatively time and labor intensive, so Harwood decided he would make a beer that contained the characteristics of all three-threads in one new style of beer. This new beer would be efficiently served from one cask. He called his creation Entire or Entire Butts. (Butts was the term used for the giant wooden casks of the time.) It is said that the new beer became wildly popular, especially with the busy London porters, and thus the dark ale became known as porter.
Further explanation for the name may be that as soon as such a laborer entered the tavern, “porter” was cried out, not signifying the beer at all, but alerting the barkeep of a porter´s arrival. The porter would step up to the bar and be immediately handed his pot of Entire.
As porter´s popularity grew, so did the competition to brew it. As the competition grew so did variations of the style. One of the styles that grew from porter was stout porter. This variety of porter was the brewer´s strongest version of the style. The popular theory then is that stout was born from porter.
A less popular theory was put forth by Michael J. Lewis, author of "Stout in the Classic Beer Style Series", (Brewers Publications © 1995, Boulder, Co.). Lewis argues that stout may actually predate porter. Given that in earlier days malts probably contained a portion of blackened grains, I can easily believe that very dark brown to near black beers existed. Furthermore, it is no stretch of my imagination to see a three-threads mixture being made from a combination of beers that included at least one dark roasted beer. The resulting blend would be the dark brown to near black beer we now call porter.
Whatever the case, porter took London and subsequently England by storm in the 1700s, much as the golden lagers did in America during the late 1800s. It was this popularity that led Guinness to make its Stout Porter.
A widely told story about young Arthur Guinness was that he signed a lease in 1759 for a piece of property that committed him to £45 a year for 9,000 years. The story seems even more incredulous when you learn that the brewery he lease had been on the market for 10 years and was in the middle of many other breweries, all attracted to the area by the water supply.
At the time, much of the Irish population was drinking whiskey, gin and poteen. But there was a new kind of beer becoming very popular. Recognizing the trend, Guinness decided he would make porter instead of Irish ale. His success with porter lead to the development of Guinness Extra Stout Porter. The word “stout” was added in the 1820s. Eventually, the whole name was shortened to Guinness Stout. This story does much to fuel the belief again that stout was derived from porter.
Ironically, porter gradually became extinct while stout sales continued to gain broader markets. Today, there are over a dozen recipe variations of Guinness being made in 35 countries around the world. They range from 4.1 percent alcohol by volume (abv) to 7.5 percent abv. All overseas breweries must use an extract produced by the main brewery at St. James''''s Gate.
The Guinness St. James''''s Gate brewery uses 90,000 tonnes of Irish grown barley annually. Of this, 10,000 tonnes is roasted on site. Another 10,000 tonnes is steamed and rolled like oats to make barley flakes. Over 600 tonnes of hops are used. They brew 16 batches a day, each batch containing 20 tonnes grist and 70 tonnes water, producing 4 million pints a day. The Guinness web site says that there are 10 million glasses of Guinness are enjoyed every day around the world.
Beer has long been the base of many medicinal formulations and stout is perhaps the most widely touted beer for being good for you. Guinness took great advantage of this, marketing their beer with a variety of slogans including “Guinness is Good for You” to “My Goodness, My Guinness.” Guinness has actually been used in hospitals and even given to nursing mothers. In some countries, stout is believed to be an aphrodisiac. Of course this can have two opposite effects: one desirable and the other disabling. Furthermore, the rumor that Guinness is rich in vitamin G may not be entirely truthful. There is no vitamin G. But if you feel good after drinking it, then you might try the following prescription: take orally 3 pints daily. Some believe this to be their Recommended Daily Allowance.

My Goodness,
My Guinness!
On draft is the preferred way to enjoy Guinness Stout. Many people believe Guinness is a strong beer but it is usually only 4.1 to 5.1 percent alcohol by volume. Guinness, the most popular stout in the world, is brewed in 35 countries. It is made using a high percentage of unmalted roasted barley. The definitive dry stout, it is dispensed with a special tap using blended gas consisting of 75% nitrogen and 25% carbon dioxide. It is this blend that gives the beer its fine bubble cascade and exceptional creamy body.

How Stout is Made.
Stout is simply an ale, made in the same way most ales are brewed using a simple single infusion mash. The bulk of the grain used is pale malt, the same as used in pale ales. The key and defining ingredient in stout is a small percentage of roasted barley and/or roasted malt.
The mash is generally 152 - 156 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature which imparts more body to the beer.
There are several distinctly different styles or sub-classifications of stout. They are known as Dry Stout or Irish Stout, Sweet Stout or Milk Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Foreign Extra Stout and Russian Imperial Stout. Depending on the sub-classification desired, crystal malts, chocolate malts, oats, and lactose may also be used in small percentages to further define body and, to a lesser extent, flavor.
Hops are generally specified as East Kent Goldings or EKG, which are used to impart balance more than bitterness, as bitterness is obtained from the roasted grains.
Stouts vary in degree of darkness, body and alcohol, but are usually very dark, often described as black and opaque. Such beers often look heavier than they really are. All stouts impart the roasty aromas and flavors usually described as coffee, baker’s chocolate, and sometimes burnt toast.
Stouts generally differ from porters in that they are more roasty and have greater body. In the real world, however, a stout is any black beer that the brewer who made it calls stout.

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