February is here! This means not only can we celebrate making it through the first month of the new year, Black History Month, and Valentine’s Day, but we can also celebrate National Stout Month! In the beer world, February is synonymous with Stout Month, a more-or-less made-up holiday celebrated since 1993 that involves drinking pint after pint of these dark, luscious beers. While some believe February is a cold, dark, and gloomy time of year, stouts are timeless because they are versatile. There’s a stout for every occasion: cozying up by a fire with a 10% ABV Imperial that’ll put you to sleep or going to mow the lawn with a 5% ABV Irish stout that you can drink all day. As a dedicated participant in Stout Month, I salute that sometimes a day isn’t enough to honor something this extraordinary. Now, there’s a time and place for the classics, but the beer world has most recently been fascinated with more extensive and bolder beers, such as the barrel-aged, pastry stout, or even a milk stout.
This robust winter milk stout is brewed with Cholaca, the liquified form of cocoa. It’s called Shoot Your Eye Out, and it packs a punch. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Goodwood Brewing and Spirits is dedicated to making the highest quality beers. This brew features a robust and roasty chocolate flavor and aroma with lactose (milk sugar), providing a sweet finish and big-bodied beer. Chestnuts are added to balance out the sweetness. The whole beer is super sticky and fudgy, a total brownie experience! The chestnut and oak flavors perfectly complement the massive flavors in this Imperial milk stout. Notes of dark fruit and mild chocolate, while the toasty, nutty notes carry through until the beer is swallowed, lingering in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, with a soft, yet sparkling effervescence. Overall, a delightful brew for this season.
Lexington Brewing & Darling Co. has its hand in the barrel with an excellent Kentucky Maple Barrel Stout. They are aged for eighteen months in bourbon maple syrup barrels. The aroma features maple, chocolate, light bourbon, and caramel. The taste is like semi-sweet cocoa and pancake notes. A touch of oak on the backend (no surprise after 18 months in a barrel) and moderate bitterness. The body is complex, with butterscotch, charred grains and smoked malt, brown sugar, faint bourbon, vanilla, piney hops, caramel, metallic notes, molasses, bread pudding, burnt wood or barrel notes, and dark chocolate in the finish. Rye and other spices linger in the aftertaste. This is an excellent example of how barrel aging can impart fantastic flavors.
Coffee and stout are the perfect pair and a great choice for anyone looking to get into barrel-aged stouts. This stout by Three Floyds Brewing is brewed with whole coffee beans. Guatemala Huehuetenango beans are juicy and bright; this lighter medium roast delights any coffee lover with subtle peanut butter and semisweet chocolate notes. These flavors are the perfect complement to a barrel-aged stout. The taste is deeply roasted, with a powerful brand of java. This is a high-quality coffee and a profound roast – Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of barrel-aged beers, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Crushing Mass, a barrel-aged coffee stout destined to reign with a terrifying roar. You, a true believer, can now taste the saga and relive the days of high adventure!
This would only be a proper Stout Month if talking about a tremendous golden imperial stout. We are showcasing a White Russian Nitro Stout by Left Hand Brewing Company. Combine coffee, vanilla, and chocolate notes; this beer ties it together. It has this beautifully clear, bright copper color with a substantial, long-lasting, creamy off-white head and plenty of nice lacing. The aroma is mild French vanilla. This one is lovely upfront, with an immediate flood of caramel and vanilla. The coffee comes through afterward with massive volleys of sweetness. Finally, the hops come through on the back end, where this drink reminds you that it is a beer… not a sweet pastry cocktail—a great sweet treat for anyone looking for a great first double white.
Mellow Mushroom is here to embrace the frigid conditions by warming up with Stout Month, a celebration of the diversity of the stout style.
-by Maeve Black
