# What's Your Favourite Stout?



## jakethesnake559 (12/7/12)

Hi fellow brewers,

After the Great Australian Beer Spectacular, I got to thinking about brewing a stout...there were so many great one's on show.

Never brewed a stout before, so started the research :chug: .
Brewboys Ace of Spades
4 Pines
StAmbroise Outmeal
Guinness Foreign Extra
Nogne O Imperial

...all delicious!!

Where to from here?...what's your favourite stout?


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## amiddler (12/7/12)

If I was out I would drink Guinness or 4 Pines, if the 4 Pines is available, but I wouldn't make either of these for myself at home. 
My home stout is a sweet stout with equal parts Choc and Roast Barley for colour and sweetness. The rest is typical, Ale Malt ~75% some Crystal for complexity and Wheat or Oats for mouth feel. Mash high 68-70'C and bitter to 25-30 IBU with whatever English hops you have.


Drew


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## Phoney (12/7/12)

Favourite Australian stout would be red hill imperial stout. The only problem is that it's not available outside of the Peoples Republic of Victoria.


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## Pistol (12/7/12)

3 of the best ones I've had which I remember at the moment:
Murrays Wild Thing
8 Wired I Stout
Haand Bre***? Costa Rica


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## bum (12/7/12)

Bryggeriet, I think, Pistol. Haven't had that one but all their beers that I've had are pretty great.

De Molen's Rasputin RIS is my favourite stout. Not to be confused with North Coast's Old Rasputin RIS - which is an amazing beer on tap but hardly recognisable (though still nice) in the bottle.

Local favourite would be Murray's Wild Thing (bottle and tap are both excellent).


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## razz (12/7/12)

+1, Murrays Wild Thing


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## adniels3n (12/7/12)

bum said:


> Not to be confused with North Coast's Old Rasputin RIS - which is an amazing beer on tap but hardly recognisable (though still nice) in the bottle.



Of the few stout's I've tried, NC Old Rasputin is the best stout I've tasted. Would love to find it on tap in a dark, dank corner in winter somewhere.


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## jakethesnake559 (12/7/12)

phoneyhuh said:


> Favourite Australian stout would be red hill imperial stout. The only problem is that it's not available outside of the Peoples Republic of Victoria.



Yeah, I'm on the Red Hill Imperial now...delicious!!
The bloke at the bottlo gave me some Sinha Stout from Sri Lanka, that's going to be interesting.

Drew - thanks, I'm thinking of keeping the grain bill simple as you mention. What OG do you aim for?


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## bum (12/7/12)

Muddzy said:


> Of the few stout's I've tried, NC Old Rasputin is the best stout I've tasted. Would love to find it on tap in a dark, dank corner in winter somewhere.


You gotta try it. It is almost worth the trip to get it local.


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## MitchyP (12/7/12)

Coopers BES


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## adniels3n (12/7/12)

bum said:


> You gotta try it. It is almost worth the trip to get it local.



That's a long trip mate!


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## Spork (12/7/12)

Love the St Ambroise oatmeal stout.
The Sinha isn't too bad.
Drinking a Port Brewing "Old viscosity" at the moment - mmmm.
Old Rasputin pretty good also...

My "House stout" follows the oatmeal stout recipe in "brewing classic styles" but with about %50 extra choc malt and black roasted barley. Mmmmmmmm


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## Pistol (12/7/12)

That's it Bum, couldn't be bothered looking it up.

Another good one Samuel Smiths Oatmeal stout which prefer to their imperial stout.


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## hopnerd (12/7/12)

Spork said:


> My "House stout" follows the oatmeal stout recipe in "brewing classic styles" but with about %50 extra choc malt and black roasted barley. Mmmmmmmm



+1 on the BCS Oatmeal Stout recipe. I reckon you've got it right with the extra choc and roast. I recently put mine in for tasting and received feedback indicating those flavours were on the low side.


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## Bribie G (12/7/12)

Sheaf


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## snoozer (12/7/12)

Sinha follwed by Sheaf, delish!


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## keifer33 (12/7/12)

Spork said:


> Love the St Ambroise oatmeal stout.



Must say this is a fine beer so +1


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## mugley (12/7/12)

Feral Boris.
BrewDog Tokyo.


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## Ivan Other One (13/7/12)

Home brew Coopers stout,

Brewmasters stout pack.

With a bit of extra Dex and LDM, Licorish essence


Yum


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## petesbrew (13/7/12)

hopnerd said:


> +1 on the BCS Oatmeal Stout recipe. I reckon you've got it right with the extra choc and roast. I recently put mine in for tasting and received feedback indicating those flavours were on the low side.


My house stout falls halfway between BCS' Dry and the Oatmeal recipes. Waiting for the current batch to carbonate.

Sinha Stout
Coopers Best Extra
Southwark (only had it once, but it was memorable)
Murrays Wild thing
4 Pines

And I cannot leave out the stout/dark ale toucan favourite.


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## chunckious (13/7/12)

Local - 4 Pines
Best stout? Old Rasputin


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## Screwtop (13/7/12)

Local: Mildura ChocHops

Imported: Brewdogs Paradox & Youngs Double Chocolate

Screwy


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## Weizguy (13/7/12)

Southwark, Coopers, Sheaf, and of course, Murray's Wild Thing, which I still have more than a box of, at home.

Still a few Batch 1 Wildy's, and more than half a box of the second batch.

Why has no-one mentioned the other Murray's offerings? IIRC, the Heart of Darkness and the Abyss? Happy to be corrected.

I'm certainly not afraid of the dark!

I missed the BrewDog Tokyo on tap by about 20 minutes the other night at one of the local pubs. Maybe MHB or Muggus will pipe up and tell us what it's like?

Les out


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## MHB (13/7/12)

Cut my stout drinking teeth on Guinness; still have fond memories of the Imported Guinness, not so much for the locally made version.
Shawn keeps rolling out massive complex flavoursome Stouts and Imperial Stouts that frankly amaze me, Wild Thing is in truth a thing of beauty, tasted the Abyss on Monday and am looking forward to revisiting those two and the Heart of Darkness on the 19th. If you havent tried Murrays offerings then I suspect you are missing out on some of the best stouts available.
Sadly the Tokyo is not a beer I will be buying again unless someone can assure me that they have the Ethyl Acetate under control, frankly it dominated what should have been a very enjoyable beer.
I was really looking forward to seeing the Tokyo on tap, I was impressed by the Tokyo Black Horizon fusion and was expecting so much from what is a very reputable brewer, I really hope this is just a single keg issue. Bummer.
Mark


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## Kranky (13/7/12)

Jaywalker from Walking Man is my favourite stout, although it needs to be at least a year old before it starts to get seriously good.

The Abyss from Deschutes is a fantastic stout as is Bourbon County Stout from Goose Island. Alesmiths Speedway stout is also a great find (I purchased a bottle of at Platinum last week).

Both Deschutes and Goose Island list the ingrediants for their beers on their websites for homebrewers so its possible to have a good crack of cloning their beers. 

I havent found an Aussie stout that I really love but the Moo Brew stout I had in Melbourne a few weeks back eas petty good. 

One of the problems with (imperial) stouts in Australia is that they are taxed too heavily. Why pay $160 for a slab of 16 from Murrays when you can brew ten times as much beer (and sometimes a better beer) for the same price?


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## adryargument (13/7/12)

Mikkeller Black Hole
Fell in love with this overseas at 7 Euros a pop.


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## craigo (13/7/12)

vanilla milk stout from the thirsty crow brewery


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## Muggus (13/7/12)

Les the Weizguy said:


> Southwark, Coopers, Sheaf, and of course, Murray's Wild Thing, which I still have more than a box of, at home.
> 
> Still a few Batch 1 Wildy's, and more than half a box of the second batch.
> 
> ...


What a monster Tokyo is!
Different beast off draft, but yeah as MHB mentioned, solventy to all buggery.

Wild Thing has pretty much set the standard for Imperial Stouts in this country...and is comparable to others across the world.

As far as more accessible/common Stouts go, it's hard to go past Southwark. Had one for the first time in years the other day, and it was like a visit from an old friend. A cracking beer, and i'd say the benchmark for FES's in Australia. 
I'd put Coopers BES in a close second behind that. 
Whatever happened to Coopers Special Old stout though!? http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/coopers-speci...stout/8220/1/3/. Retired apparently? Damn shame


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## Dave70 (13/7/12)

Coopers.


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## Samuel Adams (13/7/12)

My fav easy drinking stout; Sierra Nevada Stout 

My fav imperial stouts; Victory Storm King, Brooklyn Double Chocolate Stout & North Coast Old Rasputin


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## Weizguy (13/7/12)

BTW, I still have a bottle of the Rare Breed Surefoot Stout from Mountain Goat. Somewhere among the detritus at home


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## soundawake (13/7/12)

Renaissance Choc Oatmeal Stout, Lobethal Choc Stout, I had Southwark Old Stout the other day from the tap, was fantastic. First time in 4 years the brewery has decided to keg it. I was told by the Wheatsheaf Hotel the beancounters very nearly ended production of it all together. I don't understand why Lion Nathan don't promote the Southwark stout more, considering how good it is. They're sitting on a fantastic beer that they seemingly don't particularly care about. 

But for pure carnal satisfaction, its hard to go past a longneck of Coopers BES. Their Special Old Stout was aged 6 months, so I'm considering buying a carton of longies in summer and chucking it in the cellar for next winter.


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## MHB (13/7/12)

Talking to the local Coopers Rep a while ago, this year at Warners Bay Beer Festival, Coopers will be offering two year old stout on a hand pump, just one more good reason to be there.
Mark


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## JDW81 (13/7/12)

Coopers BES hard to go past.

Don't mind the Grand Ridge skirt hat lifter either.


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## sean_0 (13/7/12)

Beamish, while I can appreciate more robust interpretations, for me stout has to be dry and sessionable. I don't mind Guinness either


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## Dave70 (13/7/12)

I thought Guinness was a porter.


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## mwd (13/7/12)

JDW81 said:


> Coopers BES hard to go past.
> 
> Don't mind the Grand Ridge skirt hat lifter either.



Yes agree the Hatlifter is very drinkable and detect a residual sweetness in there good introduction for non stout drinkers.


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## Karhunkynsi (13/7/12)

For me, the standard coopers supermarket shelf variety stout has been more popular with myself and others than their "Thomas Coopers Special" and any other kit varieties I've tried from the local brew shop. The plain cheapy always seemed to come in a favourite for some reason.


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## rehab (13/7/12)

Renaissance Choc Oatmeal, Brewdog RipTide (or is that a porter?), and 8 wired iStout... I am still new to appreciating darkies.


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## Helles (13/7/12)

Did Mildura Choc Hops get a mention here or not


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## DU99 (13/7/12)

+1 for choc hops.


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## hyjak71 (13/7/12)

Van Dieman Giblin Stout , limited release and by oath I wish they would make it again. Cascade Export Stout, Moo Brew Seasonal (actually scored a growler of their oak aged release of this last week) and Coopers BES.

Love stouts and porter and the list could be a bit longer but these are the ones I return to when buying.


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## Doubleplugga (13/7/12)

St Ambroise Oatmeal. I Just got back from Canada, only $12 a six pack over there!! We get robbed here at home


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## StewTurner (13/7/12)

Tropical_Brews said:


> Yes agree the Hatlifter is very drinkable and detect a residual sweetness in there good introduction for non stout drinkers.




Plus 1 for the Grand Ridge Hat Lifter.
I also like a toucan that I made last year (which I think was a BribieG recipe):2 cans of coopers Stout1kg of LDM1 Kg of Dextrose
Nottingham yeast
Made up to 25 liters. Still a headbanger, but nice and smooth.
I added chocolate essence to a few bustles, and it turned into a really nice chocolate stout.
I must try An AG stout, now that I'm a BIAB aficionado.


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## Doubleplugga (13/7/12)

And of course Nail Stout... How could I forget that one


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## Truman42 (13/7/12)

+1 for Redhill imperial Stout. 

Coopers and cascade get a look in. But if I'm on the cheap and want to buy a six pack without having to hand over more than $20 then Abbotsford Invalid Stout is my go to stout of choice. Cheap like megaswill but just good enough to make me think I'm drinking real craft beer.


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## bum (13/7/12)

stillinrehab said:


> Renaissance Choc Oatmeal


Forgot about that one. Seems to vary between batches but when it is on song it is pretty damned nice. Bit girly but damned nice.


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## Thefatdoghead (13/7/12)

I had some rad Stouts and nut browns as they called them in Exeter so im trying to replicate them. I did notice they were quiet acrid and very very black. They were brewed by local homebrewers and craftbrewers and the best I got from darts farm and the bridge inn in Topsham, Devon. 
After drinking those stouts 4 pines and coopers extra seemed like fizzy boring crap I must admit.


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## jayahhdee (13/7/12)

Top 3:
Red Hill Imperial Stout
Mountain Goat Surefoot Stout
BrewBoys Ace of Spades


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## Wolfy (13/7/12)

jakethesnake559 said:


> Where to from here?...what's your favourite stout?


One that is free, so it can sit in the milk-crate and I wont feel bad for not drinking it ... for years, if ever.


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## Charst (13/7/12)

Sam Smiths imperial Stout.
Youngs Double Choc
Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout
St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout


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## going down a hill (13/7/12)

Grand Ridge Hat Lifter Stout is a winner in my books.


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## soundawake (14/7/12)

Just went to Dan's and grabbed a Youngs double choc stout, a 4 pines stout and a cascade stout because of this thread. 

On a site note I discovered they had longnecks of Chimay Blue so I grabbed one for the cellar too


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## Spiesy (14/7/12)

Mountain Goat Surefoot
Moo Brew
Green Flash

...but you can't go past everyday Cooper's Export for bang for buck!


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## Innes (14/7/12)

helles said:


> Did Mildura Choc Hops get a mention here or not


Just got back from Dan's where I bought 8 bottles of Choc Hops for $1.99 each from the clearance bin. Still in date and hopefully not effected too much by mistreatment. Should be a good night.


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## mondestrunken (17/7/12)

Just drinking a sheaf stout now :kooi: , and to be honest I'm always amazed and pretty shocked that it comes from CUB.

I was going to say that I know it's unpopular, because amongst beer hipsters it is, but obviously others agree with me here that it's a great beer.

Coopers is also great, in a Coopers kind of way, and brings back reminiscences of smoking a pack of Winnie Blues (in a good kind of way, of course).

I'm just wishing I had some foresight to have brewed a massive amount of stout during the summer and autumn.


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## soundawake (22/8/12)

Been reading up on Sheaf Stout, it seems to have a good reputation given its price. 

Trouble is I just can't find it ANYWHERE in SA. Which is surprising, given a lot of the reviews of it come from the US.. You can buy it in Colarado but not SA?

Anyone know where I could find it? Not even Dan murphys online store has any.


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## iralosavic (22/8/12)

Youngs double choc and mad brewers stout noir for me. Yet to try some of those mentioned above though.


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## jacknohe (22/8/12)

Fullers past masters double stout!!!


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## jakethesnake559 (22/8/12)

Finally got around to Murrays Wild Thing...on tap at the Royston last week.
Liquid gold!!!
Had a bit of difficulty getting the parma down afterwards, pretty much a meal in itself :beerbang: .


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## Mutton Chops (6/12/12)

Sadler's Mud City Stout


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## petesbrew (6/12/12)

Hunter Beer Co. Oyster Stout.
Coopers Best Extra
Sheaf
Southwark (only had it once though)
Many others I cannot remember.


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## soundawake (6/12/12)

petesbrew said:


> Hunter Beer Co. Oyster Stout.
> Coopers Best Extra
> Sheaf
> Southwark (only had it once though)
> Many others I cannot remember.



I still can't find Sheaf Stout ANYWHERE. Even online. I've wanted to try it for ages.


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## Liam_snorkel (6/12/12)

I found it in Dan Murphys a little while back, but now their website says it's out of stock at my local store. 
Could be worth a gander?


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## chunckious (6/12/12)

Anyone tried TOOL GOLIAT IMP. COFFEE STOUT?
On tap at the Archive at the moment....holy shit it packs a punch. It's like liquid acid.


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## GalBrew (6/12/12)

Still Coopers for me....soooo good.


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## sponge (6/12/12)

Recently tried a barley brothers double espresso stout.

De-friggin-licious.


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## big78sam (6/12/12)

Bought a carton of coopers stout recently and wasn't that impressed. Far too much vegemite character. Coopers special old stout, now that was a great beer.


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## sydneyhappyhour (6/12/12)

Bellarine Mussel Stout

Also a massive fan of Brew Boys Ace of Spades


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## Vanoontour (6/12/12)

Ottway Prickly Moses is pretty good.


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## Hargie (6/12/12)

Wig & Pen Velvet Cream Stout....exceptional


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## Bribie G (6/12/12)

Sheaf Stout is the old Tooths variant - not sure if it came from the Tooths or the Reschs branch of the business, but obviously now brewed by CUB. Until now has been NSW specific product and available in all bottlos in stubbies or longnecks. However it's interesting to hear that Liam found it in SEQ at Dans. I think some of the state boundaries are being eroded as I now often see XXXX heavy (red label) stubbies in the bottlos here on the Mid North Coast. Until recently it didn't stray South of the Tweed. 

Sheaf is my choice if I want to really hang one on :beerbang:


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## Nick JD (6/12/12)

4 Pines. It's supurb - it's probably a milk stout (dunno much about stouts, but it's sweet).


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## Punkal (6/12/12)

I used to drink sheaf stout quite a bit before I started brewing.


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## Toper (6/12/12)

Abbotsford Invalid,the easiest stout for me to purchase at bottlo and pub,tis a top drop  Sheaf is a cracker,but I can't find it easily  Coopers is "A pale shadow of it's former self" (check out the thread for my comments re this matter).Many years ago there was Razorback Milk Stout (Matilda Bay I think,but might be wrong),twas luscious,wish it was still being brewed


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## soundawake (6/12/12)

big78sam said:


> Bought a carton of coopers stout recently and wasn't that impressed. Far too much vegemite character. Coopers special old stout, now that was a great beer.



Special Old Stout was just normal Coopers Stout that had been aged 6 months before getting shipped out. Heard this from Tim Cooper himself. 
Interesting to note that Tim Cooper's grandmother still asks him to re release Special Old Stout. He said its possible, not probable though.


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## Logman (7/12/12)

AdamFromWH said:


> Still Coopers for me....soooo good.


Not just the taste but I also think Coopers Stout is the best value beer around, just over $50 at Dan's last time I got a slab. 

It's my second favorite behind Sierra Nevada.


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