Slainte! A stout toast to St. Patrick
Here are some dark brews to celebrate the Irish occasion
As Irish people and wannabe Irish prepare to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March17, many will be tempted to have a pint or two of stout.
While the dark brew is often seen as quintessentially Irish, there are plenty of good ones that hail from other parts of the world. And they’re not all in the style of the dry, slightly roasted drink made popular by Arthur Guinness.
There are strong stouts, there are sweet stouts, there are spice-laden stouts and stouts which have some coffee.
Here are some very good ones available on Ontario shelves. They’re suitable for toasting St. Patrick and for plenty of other occasions as well (contrary to what some people apparently believe, it’s entirely acceptable to sip stout on the other 364 days of the year). Slainte! Innis and Gunn Kith and Kin: $5.00 per 330 mL bottle In addition to stout, Ireland also makes some very good whisky. This rich, chocolatey brew has a touch of both. The underlying stout is produced by Scotland’s wood-aging specialists Innis and Gunn. They take that beer and age it in barrels which formerly held whisky at the Teeling distillery in Dublin. When it first opened in 2015, Teeling was the first new distillery in the Irish capital in over 125 years. The whisky makes its presence known in both the aroma and flavour of this brew, but it complements, rather than overwhelms, the beer. Muskoka Brewery Shinnicked Stout: $3.15 per 473 mL can This brew from cottage country stalwart Muskoka Brewery has a dark chestnut colour and a touch of fruitiness on the nose.
There’s a bit of coffee flavour; while that’s the case in plenty of stouts, here that’s enhanced by the addition of coffee beans from Muskoka Roastery. And that name? It’s got a (tenuous) connection to Ireland: it’s Newfoundland slang meaning “to feel cold.” (Newfoundland, of course, has many people of Irish descent.) Saint Ambroise Oatmeal Stout: $2.90 per 473 mL can This has been one of the top stouts in Canada for a very long time. The dark brown brew hails from Montreal, in particular McAuslan Brewing, which was one of the pioneers of the craft brewing scene in Quebec. This is a rich stout with notes of dark roasted coffee and a hint of licorice. The use of oatmeal — usually shied away from by brewers because it can gum up brewing equipment — lends this beer more body and an almost silky texture. There’s also a slight buttery note, thanks to the use of an English ale yeast. (It also, as McAuslan’s Barry Pletch notes, helps make an excellent chili when thrown into the pot.) Stone Xocoveza: $4.20 per 355 mL bottle While Arthur Guinness might recog- nize this as a stout by its dark chocolate colour, it’s otherwise about as far from his eponymous brew as a stout can get. It’s a seasonal offering from the bold crew at Stone Brewing, based in Escondido, Calif.
At 8.1-per-cent alcohol, it packs quite a wallop, but it’s well-hidden, so be careful. What can hide that kind of punch? Spices (cinnamon, chili and nutmeg, in particular), a dose of dark chocolate, some coffee and some lactose, all of which come together in a decadent, slightly sweet package. Think of it as a slightly boozy version of a Mexican-style hot chocolate. This would be an excellent dessert in its own right, but also goes splendidly with dark chocolate mousse.