Thoughts on blonde/golden stouts?

Trying to attract peeps who are afraid of dark beers? I know lots of "them " in Casper.

 

I had one from The Bruery about a year and a half ago, IIRC.

It freaked me out, man.

 

Ive had a few, brewed one myself years ago.
In essence it basically a full bodied golden ale with enough cold brewed coffee ( or in rare cases fresh roasted coffee beans added post fermentation) to provide the aroma and nuance of roasted malts, and if they are ambitious an addition of cocoa nibs.
Can they be good, yes but often times the coffee additions can overwhelm the beer and they do improve with age.

 

I don't think I've ever heard them called anything but Ales. What would you call them?

 

Pale Stout really was a thing. I've a Pale Stout recipe from 1804. What we now think of as Stout was originally called Brown Stout. In Britiish brewing "Stout" originally just meant strong. Nothing to do with roast or a dark colour.

 

I call them Porters and Stouts. I don't see any need to call them anything else.To use "Ale" to mean top fermented beer leads to a lot of misunderstanding .

 

Zaftig did a One Night Stand batch they billed as a golden stout and it was a stout taste wise, but almost a clear golden yellow. It tasted great IMO.

 

You drink/eat with your eyes first.. If I see a glass of blonde beer, I don't want it to taste like a cheap cup off coffee; which is what all golden stouts taste like to me. I'm ready for them to go away.

 

Fair enough!

 

Noble Ale Works Naughty Sauce is a modern pioneer in the category from what I can tell. Coming a few years before Stone's Master of Disguise, Naughty Sauce is a much more approachable 5.4% made with third-wave coffee. Life changing back in 2013.

 

I think their supposed existence and presence is a bit overblown. I've never seen one before or knew of any by name. I don't think they should be considered a style, though. They're just blond ales with coffee and/or chocolate.

 

Sounds like another Brewers discretion kinda beer. You can call it as you want.

 

I don't know. They were 7-8% ABV, heavily hopped and aged some of the time, if not always.

 

Stoney Creek has a beer called Stoney Joe which is really good, and it's a Golden Stout. Honestly, it's the stout that has most tasted like an iced coffee to me, it's really delicious.

 

Are these heavy thick complex beers with coffee/chocolate tones? What is the basis for calling these stouts?

At least a black IPA is a dark hoppy beer and a white IPA is mostly a hazy golden hoppy beer.

Enjoy

 

I've had a few, and they didn't really taste like stouts to me. More like sweetened coffee, and one didn't even have coffee in it. Schlenkerla Helles is better to my palate than any golden stout I've ever tried.

 

Schlafly Double Bean Blonde, despite being a blonde, drank very stout-like.