American Craft Beer Week is entering its final weekend but not before we feature a few more of our speciality craft ales in our Beer of the Day series. Today we take a look at the dark side: Steel-Cut Oatmeal Stout.

Espresso-like and dark as a starless night on Grizzly Peak, stouts have a long history in the brewing world. The first “stout porters” were brewed in England in the early 18th century. At that time, stout was used to describe any beer that was strong or hearty. The term “stout porter” was later shortened to stout to describe the dark ales popular with street and river porters in London, and Guinness of Ireland began using the term in the early 1800s when it started exporting its first beers to England.

About the Beer

As the name implies, our Steel-Cut Oatmeal Stout is brewed with 100 pounds of oats to provide a silky smooth mouthfeel. Opaque black and nearly impenetrable by light, ours has notes of roasted coffee aroma followed by espresso and chocolate flavors. 5.1% abv, 30 ibu

Malt

• Two-Row
• Roasted Barley
• Munich
• Crystal-60
• Chocolate
• Carapils
• Rolled Oats

Hops

• Bittering=Organic Magnum
• Aroma=Organic Golding

Food Pairing

Due to their malty sweetness and creamy nature, stouts complement a variety of foods. But they are bold enough to stand up to grilled foods like our lamb-pita or our own farm-raised steaks. And while stouts are dark (really dark!) they are “lighter” in body and even calories. Our Steel-Cut Stout makes a great lunchtime beer with an abv of just over 5 percent.

Stouts also make the perfect dessert beer. Try pairing one with chocolate to bring out the flavors of the beer, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and make a stout float! The creamy mouthfeel of the ice-cream and the stout are a match made in heaven!

Beer of the Day and American Craft Beer Week wrap up tomorrow with twist on this classic ale: Noble Stout.