10 Best Dark Beer Brands | South Austin Brewery Tours & Craft Beer Blog

Best Stouts and Porters

The craft beer explosion has reinvigorated excitement around different beers. Some beers that, two decades ago, might have been destined to fade into history, suddenly found new popularity. This is especially true for dark beer, like stouts and porters.

Thanks to the craft beer revolution, there is a dazzling array of dark beers to choose from. In this list, we hope to help you narrow your next search for the best dark beer.

Guinness Extra Stout

Guinness’ Stouts are undeniably the leader of the dark beers. If you are in an establishment that doesn’t focus on craft beers, this will often be the only dark beer available to choose from. Many dark beer fans love the froth and bold, slightly bitter flavor of a Guinness.

Pros

Subtle chocolate and coffee flavors
Mellow profile
Satisfying creamy froth
Fewer calories than many other beers (126 calories for 12 ounces)

Cons

Salty taste
Not as robust or bold as many other stouts

Food Pairings

Guinness Extra Stout goes well with oysters, beef and chocolate.

Dogfish Head Raison d’Etre (Belgian Style Brown Ale)

The Delaware-based brewery, Dogfish Head, has made a name for itself by creating unique, sometimes recreated ancient beer recipes with some dating back even thousands of years. The Raison d’Etre may not be an ancient recreation, but it is an incredibly satisfying brew with sweet, fruity flavors. Be very careful when enjoying this one, however. Its alcohol by volume (ABV) can reach a staggering 18% in the ramped-up Raison d’Extra version!

Pros

Brewed with raisins and beet or brown sugar
Sweet, fruity aromas
Crisp flavor profile
Long finish

Cons

ABV of Raison d’Extra prevents distribution in some states
Might be too sweet for some
Expensive since it has been discontinued

220 Calories

Food Pairings

The ‘reason for being’ of the Raison d’Etre is to be paired with steak. It also goes well with blue and goat cheeses as well as mussels.

Bell’s Expedition Stout

Bell’s Expedition Stout was one of the very first Russian Imperial stouts to come to the United States. Like many imperial stouts, its ABV is higher than most beers at 10.5%. This dark beer is specially formulated to be aged to perfection over months and years in a cellar.

Pros

Complex flavor profile
Ages well in a cellar
Chocolate, espresso and fruit flavors
Bourbon-barrel aged variety can be consumed immediately

Cons

Will be bitter if you drink the original Expedition within the first few months after purchase
383 calories per 12 ounces
Expensive if looking to purchase and drink immediately

Price

The ready-to-drink Bourbon Barrel Aged Expedition Stout will run close to $$$ for a single 12-ounce bottle. A six-pack of the original Expedition Stout will cost about $$ online.

Food Pairings

Pairs well with dark chocolate, pecan pie, and raspberry tarts.

Allagash Black Belgian Style Stout

Allagash Brewing Company set out to create a “Belgian traditional stout” by mixing the best aspects of stouts and traditional Belgian ales. This dark beer is brewed with far more than the traditional roasted barley, and includes wheat, oats, chocolate malt, black malt, and hops. The oats give it a very satisfying creamy mouthfeel.

Pros

A mixture of Belgian ales and stouts
Rich dark chocolate, coffee, and fruity flavors
Nutty toffee and caramel aromas

7.5% ABV

Cons

Should be consumed within a year
Strong, unbalanced bitterness at the finish

225 Calories per 12 ounces

Price

Allagash can be purchased in stores for around $ per 25-ounce bottle. Alcohol laws prevent it from being more widely available via online shopping.

Food Pairings

Allagash black stouts go well with steak.

Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)

This rich, sweet dark Belgian ale is rather high in alcohol content after being fermented twice. The sweet, full-bodied flavors led some to nickname this ale “Barley Wine.”

Pros

Bold and smooth
Caramel, toffee and vanilla flavors
Full body and creamy head
Earthy bitterness with a slight hoppiness

Cons

Unfiltered
Bitter, hoppy finish isn’t for everyone
10.5% ABV

215 calories per 12 ounces

Price

You can purchase a four-pack online for around $$.

Food Pairings

Gulden Draak works best with dark chocolates and red meats.

Keegan Ales’ Mother’s Milk Stout

The Mother’s Milk Stout from Keegan Ales was named one of the top ten North American stouts by the New York Times. This dark beer has been so popular that they’ve created two spinoffs: a bourbon-barrel aged Milk Stout and another made with cold-brewed coffee (Joe’s Mama’s Milk). The original has the ever-popular chocolate and coffee flavors, and the milk stout gives it a sweet taste and extra creamy finish.

Pros

Chocolate, oatmeal, coffee, and milk flavors
Smooth and creamy
Well balanced and medium bodied
Slight bitter finish

5-6% ABV

170 Calories per 12 ounces

Cons

Smoky, roasted taste may be off-putting to some
A mildly sour flavor from lactose
Loses some flavor in bottles as opposed to draft

Price

Keegan Ales’ Mother’s Milk Stout can be purchased online or in stores for between $ and $ for a six-pack.

Food Pairings

Mother’s Milk goes well with steak, barbecue, cheddar, and chocolate and espresso desserts.

Grimm Sumi Zest (Imperial Stout)

If you’re looking for something different from the wealth of chocolate, coffee flavored stouts, look no further than the Grimm Sumi Zest Imperial Stout. This dark beer went with a vanilla focus instead of only chocolate and orange instead of coffee.

Pros

Airy and mellow for a dark beer
Balanced vanilla and chocolate flavors
Light orange aroma
Tangy flavor profile
Well balanced

Cons

Orange flavor might be too subtle
Less bold than most imperial stouts
Limited release is expensive and difficult to find

11.5% ABV

Food Pairings

This sweet stout would go well with a chocolate mousse or cheesecake.

Brasserie Dupont Monk’s Stout

This stout is Brasserie Dupont’s effort to recreate a 1950s era recipe from their archives. As such, this dark beer doesn’t jump onto recent trends but sticks to the bitter, slightly hoppy espresso flavors of the stouts of yesteryear.

Pros

Malty, espresso flavors
Sweet, woody aromas
Available year-round
5.2% ABV
156 Calories

Cons

Some dark beer fans will not like the bitter hoppy tones
Watery mouthfeel

Price

The Monk’s Stout can be purchased for about $ for an 11-ounce bottle.

Food Pairings

Monk’s Stout goes best with pork loin, sushis, crab and shrimp, and blue cheese.

DuClaw’s Sweet Baby Jesus! (Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter)

DuClaw has been making waves with its Sweet Baby Jesus! Peanut Butter Porter. Other than the bold peanut butter and chocolate flavors,

Pros

Peanut butter, chocolate, and espresso flavors
Full-bodied
Sweet and bitter is well-balanced
Smooth and creamy
Available year-round

6.5% ABV

Cons

Very heavy
Small, uneven froth

195 Calories

Price

The Sweet Baby Jesus! Porter can be found online for around $.

Food Pairings

Paired with some ice cream, this beer would make an amazing dark beer float.

Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout

If you want a rich, bold coffee flavored stout, Hitachino Nest has what you seek. The coffee flavors here are strong and accompanied by vanilla, a little chocolate, and black currants and other dark fruits. The Imperial Stout base gives it the extra richness that stout fans know and love.

Pros

Rich and Bold
Perfect for coffee-lovers
Chocolate and black currant flavors
Tall, creamy froth
Well-balanced

7.0% ABV

Cons

Sharp, bitter, herbal finish
Vanilla is hard to detect

225 Calories

Price

You can purchase this Japanese dark beer online for around $ for an 11-ounce bottle.

Food Pairings

The Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout would go well with roasted chicken or bread pudding.

The Verdict

When you’re searching for a new, fantastic dark beer to try, there can be a dizzying amount of beers to choose from. We’ve listed 10 of the top dark beers, though the beers vary in their availability and price.

The best beer for those looking for a rich, bold, dessert beer should go for DuClaw’s Sweet Baby Jesus! Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. Not only is it an affordable option to experiment with, but it also offers a well-balanced sweetness.

Keegan Ale’s Mother’s Milk Stout is a solid, smooth and creamy stout option for dark beer fans of all stripes. For those who are not a fan of the darkest of beers, the Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak is an excellent option. It is bold, earthy and slightly hoppy with sweet caramel notes.

Dedicated beer connoisseurs will want to go out of their way to purchase Bell’s Expedition Stout. Once this dark beer has aged for a year or more, the flavors and aromas develop a level of creamy, complexity that is hard to find from any dark beer straight off the shelf. Whatever your dark beer craving, you should find some inspiration for your next trip to the beer store.

Dark Beer FAQ

What Is Dark Beer?

Dark beers are generally ales that have a dark or even black coloring. These beers are often known to be fuller and heavier with a smoother, robust flavor profile. Unlike more hoppy beers, many dark beers have flavors that seem to be completely missing the distinctive bitter hops.
What Are the Most Popular Types of Dark Beer?

The most popular types of dark beer are stouts and porters. Both are known for their smooth, creamy textures and often include earthy, sweet flavors like coffee and chocolate. Some brands will be aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels, often taking on an even bolder flavor with higher alcohol content.

There is some debate over just what the differences are between stouts and porters. Generally, stouts are made with roasted barley, having a more smoky flavor and heavier body than porters.

Porters will often contain fruity accents that might lend to a sweeter taste than the general stout. However, brands in each category will cross these boundaries.

There are also some brown and dark ales that can be considered a dark beer. However, they will have a lighter, and sometimes more bitter, hoppy flavor than the black stouts and porters.

What Is the History of Dark Beer?

hundred years ago. Legend says that London street and river porters favored a special blend of beer created from multiple barrels. A bartender supposedly commissioned someone to recreate the blend he manufactured for each glass.

Because this new beer was such a hit with the porters of the city, the beer took on the name porter. Sometime later, brewers created more robust versions of the porter that had a higher alcohol content and called them “stout porters.” The name would later be shortened to stout, creating the accomplice to the dark beer duo we know today.

How Is Dark Beer Made?

Dark beer gets its distinctive color from the malting and roasting process. In the malting process, the grain, usually barley, is soaked in water and then heated and dried. The more heat the grain receives, the darker the grain will become and the darker the resulting beer will be.

The longer these grains roast, the more that complex flavors are released in the beer by unlocking essential oils in the grains. Porters are made from malted barley and stouts are made from roasted barley that avoids the soak of the malting process.

Are Dark Beers Stronger?

There seems to be a prevailing myth that dark beer inherently means stronger alcohol content. While this may have been true in the past, it isn’t as true today.

The average stout and porter sold in bars and beer stores today typically has an alcohol content between 5-7%. The exceptions to this are imperial stouts and porters, and those that have been barrel-aged which have a significantly higher alcohol content.