Style Details

Name
Ame­ri­can Stout
Cate­go­ry
Ame­ri­can Por­ter and Stout
BJCP Style Code
20 B
Appearance
Gene­ral­ly a jet black color, alt­hough some may appear very dark brown. Lar­ge, per­sis­tent head of light tan to light brown in color. Usual­ly opaque.
Aro­ma
Mode­ra­te to strong aro­ma of roas­ted malts, often having a roas­ted cof­fee or dark cho­co­la­te qua­li­ty. Burnt or char­co­al aro­mas are accep­ta­ble at low levels. Medi­um to very low hop aro­ma, often with a citru­sy or res­i­ny cha­rac­ter. Medi­um to no esters. Light alco­hol-deri­ved aro­ma­tics are also optional.
Fla­vour
Mode­ra­te to very high roas­ted malt fla­vors, often tasting of cof­fee, roas­ted cof­fee beans, dark or bit­ters­weet cho­co­la­te. May have the fla­vor of slight­ly burnt cof­fee grounds, but this cha­rac­ter should not be pro­mi­nent. Low to medi­um malt sweet­ness, often with rich cho­co­la­te or cara­mel fla­vors. Medi­um to high bit­ter­ness. Low to high hop fla­vor, gene­ral­ly citru­sy or res­i­ny. Low to no esters. Medi­um to dry finish, occa­sio­nal­ly with a light­ly burnt qua­li­ty. Alco­hol fla­vors can be pre­sent up to medi­um levels, but smooth.
Mouth­feel
Medi­um to full body. Can be some­what cre­a­my, par­ti­cu­lar­ly if a small amount of oats have been used to enhan­ce mouth­feel. Can have a bit of roast-deri­ved astrin­gen­cy, but this cha­rac­ter should not be exces­si­ve. Medi­um-high to high car­bo­na­ti­on. Light to modera­te­ly strong alco­hol warmth, but smooth and not exces­si­ve­ly hot.
Over­all Impression
A fair­ly strong, high­ly roas­ted, bit­ter, hop­py dark stout. Has the body and dark fla­vors typi­cal of stouts with a more aggres­si­ve Ame­ri­can hop cha­rac­ter and bitterness.
Typi­cal Ingredients
Com­mon Ame­ri­can base malts and yeast. Varied use of dark and roas­ted malts, as well as cara­mel-type malts. Adjuncts such as oat­me­al may be pre­sent in low quan­ti­ties. Ame­ri­can hop varieties.
Histo­ry
A modern craft beer and home­brew style that appli­ed an aggres­si­ve Ame­ri­can hoping regime to a strong tra­di­tio­nal Eng­lish or Irish stout. The home­brew ver­si­on was pre­vious­ly known as West Coast Stout, which is a com­mon naming sche­me for a more high­ly-hop­ped beer.
Comm­ents
Bre­we­ries express indi­vi­dua­li­ty through vary­ing the roas­ted malt pro­fi­le, malt sweet­ness and fla­vor, and the amount of finis­hing hops used. Gene­ral­ly has bol­der roas­ted malt fla­vors and hop­ping than other tra­di­tio­nal stouts (except Impe­ri­al Stouts).
Com­mer­cial Examples
Avery Out of Bounds Stout, Deschu­tes Obsi­di­an Stout, North Coast Old No. 38, Rogue Shake­speare Stout, Sier­ra Neva­da Stout
Ori­gi­nal Gravity
1.050 - 1.075 SG
Final Gra­vi­ty
1.010 - 1.022 SG
Color
30 - 40 SRM
Alco­hol
5.0 - 7.0 %vol
Bit­ter­ness
35 - 75 IBU