Help me to understand and appreciate stouts

if you don't like 'em, don't drink 'em. beer isn't a test but simply something to enjoy.

 

What I like about stouts is the balance between the sweetness of the malt and the intense roastiness inherent in the style. To me, having one after a meal or as a nightcap is every bit as good as a big, rich slice of chocolate cake and a fine cup of coffee. Like any other intensely-flavored style, stouts may take a little getting used to. The more beers you drink, the more your palate will develop. Eventually, you may take a real shine to them. At one time, I hated barleywines. Now I seek them out all the time.

Of course, if you never do take a shine to stouts, don't worry about it. In fact, you can consider yourself lucky. You'll save lots of time, effort, and money not having to hunt down the big ones .

 

try milk stouts, they are substantially sweeter, if you get tallgrass, their stout is really good and reminds me of a roasty brown ale.

 

My advice:

This really isn't the best time of year to be getting into stouts. The warmer it is the less appealing this style becomes imo.

Based on your location the best beer i can tell you to check out that I think you'll have access to is Chicory Stout by DFH.

Finally, from my experience you don't become a fan of a style by forcing yourself to like it. Just keep drinking the beers you enjoy and sooner or later your tastes will wonder to the dark side of beer and you'll start to enjoy porters and stouts. Then over time your tastes will shift again away from porters and stouts toward another style. So don't force the issue and just enjoy the beers that you like now while you can. Sooner or later that beer you think that is awesome now will taste much less awesome once your taste buds change. It happens and there is nothing you can do about it. Just go with the flow.

 

Try Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I think it might fit in as not bitter as well as smooth.
Also, read some reviews of some of the different stout styles, you might find a few that will fit what you are looking for.
Good Luck.

 

Stouts and Imperial Stouts are a favorable style for me because they hold a lot of the same flavors as chocolate and coffee. It is amazing that these flavors exist with actually adding these ingredients into the beer (although sometimes they do add these items).

I would say get some fine chocolate, or a rich chocolate cake after a nice dinner. Instead of pouring a cup of coffee pour a nice stout (I suggest Stone IRS, Parabola, Rasputin, Yeti or Out of Bounds). The smells are almost as powerful as the taste, so don't rush to the drinking. Once you sip, watch how these flavors work together. Like a fine chocolate, Stouts sometimes have a bitterness to the sweet on the finish. Let the beer linger in your mouth and let the flavors open up as it warms in your mouth.

Stouts may not be for you, but if you want to try and learn to enjoy them this may be a good route. Good luck.

 

This. Aside from the occasional Guinness, I started my love affair with stouts by trying milk or ``sweet'' stouts. In addition to the beer mentioned above, since your profile says you're in Jersey, another milk stout you may be able to find is Southern Tier's 2X Stout.

 

I enjoy stouts year round, though they usually are more enjoyable in the winter.

 

I'd say that stouts are typically considered cold weather beers. The higher amount of alcohol and sugar make them less then easy to drink on a warm day. That is just me though. You might really enjoy a high OG/high ABV beer in the heat. I doubt that but it is possible. Its still spring though so check them out. I just wouldn't be surprised if its a hot day and you try a stout that the experience is less enjoyable than it would have been if it were colder outside.

 

Try some English stouts. They tend to be milder and I think would be the entry level you're looking for. You can't go wrong with Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout or their Imperial Stout. The oatmeal is really easy (like grocery store easy) to find while the Imperial can be somewhat less easy to find. Neither has much of the roasty char flavor you can find in a lot of stouts. I'd try the oatmeal - malty, toasty, buttery, caramelly, oatmeal-slick and smooth. Can't go wrong. While I had acquired a sort of taste for Guinness way back, it was SSOS that really made me love the style and then I went from there.

Another idea would be to try a really chocolatey chocolate stout. That way the focus is on the sweeter element, which is easier to get used to. Rogue makes a really nice one that's easy to find. It has a nice chocolate flavor with just a hint of that charry black malt.

Moving on from there, a really great quality stout that's pretty mild and round and accessible is Sierra Nevada's stout. Make that your next step after an assisted intro from an English or a chocolate. If you like that, you can start venturing out further.

 

I have air conditioning.

 

I was going for entry level to get you started but if you want to jump right into the deep end of the pool, then you need to get yourself a Black Tuesday, a long straw and no plans for the next day!