The Best Stout Beers That Go Beyond Guinness

Best Irish

Guinness Pub Draught Stout

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This Irish stout might be the globe’s most consumed style of dark beer, and credit in large part goes to Guinness. The legendary Irish beer is sold all over the world, its popularity due to its seamless blend of low alcohol—just north of 4 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) for its iconic draught version—and balanced bittersweet flavors, the aroma evocative of fresh-brewed coffee tempered with a splash of milk. Drinking a freshly poured pint in a bar is one of a drinking life’s greatest pleasures; if that’s not possible, the next best thing is grabbing a four-pack of the nitrogen-infused cans. Use them to recreate a bartender’s patient, creamy pour at home.

Price at time of publish: $11 for 6 pack

Region: Ireland | ABV: 4.2% ABV | Tasting Notes: Chocolate, Coffee, Cream

Best Oatmeal

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

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Oats are a secret weapon for many stout brewers. The grains help plump a stout’s body and add a lustrous mouthfeel, creating a sleek sip from start to finish. Sobier likes Muted Lightning from New York City’s Fifth Hammer Brewing. It's “everything an oatmeal stout should be,” she says, adding that the smooth and creamy beer is “lightly roasted with hints of chocolate and not too bitter.

However, this beer is mainly sold in New York City. For a more available option, go for the legendary Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. Rakowsky says the English beer is classic for a reason, being “the minerals in the water and English hops give it that distinctive taste that makes for great drinkability. I could drink this all day, and with a 5 percent ABV, I can.”

Price at time of publish: $12 for 4 pk

Region: New York | ABV: 5% ABV | Tasting Notes: Cream, Roasted coffee, Cocoa

Best Imperial

AleSmith Brewing Company Speedway Stout

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Imperial stouts don’t hold back. They’re sky-high in alcohol and brooding complexity, turbocharged with flavors and aromas of well-roasted coffee beans and bittersweet cocoa. A well-made imperial stout is best sipped nice and slow, its charms unfolding as the beer slowly warms up in a snifter. Cult-favorite Vermont brewery The Alchemist makes Luscious, a favorite of Rakowsky.

“I really love this velvety beer,” she says. “It’s got a great roasted and chocolaty character that is pleasant from the nose to the aftertaste.”

The downside: grabbing a can regularly requires a road trip to Vermont. An equally excellent option is AleSmith’s long-running Speedway Stout, which is sold year-round in 16-ounce cans. The San Diego strong stout weighs in at 12 percent ABV and is infused with locally roasted coffee beans, creating a “rich, yet smooth, deceptively powerful liquid icon,” says Brandon Hernández, the founder and executive editor of San Diego Beer News. Be on the lookout for regularly released variants that might include, say, unique blends of espresso and Madagascar vanilla beans.

Price at time of publish: $5 for a can

Region: Vermont | ABV: 12% ABV | Tasting Notes: Roasted coffee, Bittersweet chocolate, Vanilla

Best Barrel-Aged

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

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Over the last decade, barrel-aged stouts have become big business in the beer world. Brewers send their dark beers to slumber inside barrels that previously held bourbon or whiskey, emerging months or even years later with layers of spirited complexity. Hernández likes Ballast Point Brewing’s special-edition of its Victory at Sea imperial porter, which is steeped with coffee and vanilla beans and aged in a blend of oaks cask that previously contained High West rye or bourbon.

“It’s remarkable this world-class, oak- and booze-tinged delight comes in affordable four-packs,” Hernández says.

Given the beer’s limited nature, another widely available option is Goose Island’s legendary Bourbon County Brand Stout. For more than 25 years, the Chicago brewery (now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev) has produced this inky gem that’s patiently bathed in bourbon barrels until it emerges, tasting like boozy vanilla-flavored fudge.

Price at time of publish: $27 for 4 pack

Region: New York | ABV: 5% ABV | Tasting Notes: Cream, Roasted coffee, Cocoa