Dessert Stout

Horus Aged Ales founder Kyle Harrop doesn’t drink coffee, but he loves to add it as a flavor component in his big barrel-aged stouts. In this clip from his video course, he explains his “tea bag” method to dial in contact time to get the flavor he wants.

While different recipes call for different approaches, Third Eye co-owner and head brewer Kelly Montgomery explains why some stouts need more than one bourbon barrel, and why they add certain sugary adjuncts directly to the barrels.

From lower-strength versions to higher-gravity ones that need a bigger yeast pitch and more time, Third Eye co-owner and head brewer Kelly Montgomery details their approach to fermenting award-winning milk stouts.

Third Eye co-owner and head brewer Kelly Montgomery makes the case for freshly roasted cacao nibs and using real vanilla extract in combination with vanilla beans to capture a rich chocolate flavor in stouts.

From layering malts to selecting and infusing adjuncts, Third Eye co-owner and head brewer Kelly Montgomery lays out their medal-winning approach to planning and brewing rich, flavorful stouts.

From Kelly Montgomery, co-owner and head brewer of Cincinnati’s Third Eye—a frequent medal-winner for their stouts—this richly layered recipe includes a range of flavorful dark malts plus additions of lactose, cacao nibs, and vanilla.

From Kelly Montgomery and his team at Third Eye Brewing in Cincinnati, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for a full-bodied stout from their medal-winning program. Lil Astral features oats, lactose, cacao nibs, and vanilla.

Marcus Baskerville, former head brewer and co-owner at Weathered Souls in San Antonio, shares this recipe for the richly layered, Caribbean-accented imperial stout that was one of our Best 20 Beers in 2023.

From cocoa to coconuts via lactose and long boils, brewers are shaping today’s dessert stouts for easy appeal. Just don’t say they’re easy to make.

And pistachios seemed like such a good idea. Great Notion lead brewer Lara Hargrave shares some tips on things to look out for when flavoring and finishing dessert-inspired stouts.

Great Notion lead brewer Lara Hargrave offers some useful advice for using flavor extracts, graham crackers, almonds, and more in your pastry- and dessert-inspired beers.

With Great Notion’s flavored stouts, it’s “go big, or go home.” Lead brewer Lara Hargrave explains their approach to building decadent, dessert-inspired recipes from base to adjuncts.

Lara Hargrave, lead brewer at Great Notion in Portland, Oregon, runs through several of the adjuncts they add to their pastry stouts, including some useful tips for flavor and practicality.

Lara Hargrave, lead brewer at Great Notion in Portland, Oregon, takes us on a journey through the production of big, whimsical, indulgent, nostalgia-inducing dessert-inspired stouts.

From ball bearings to infusion tanks, Maplewood founder Adam Cieslak and special projects lead Adam Smith offer technical advice on how to best extract the flavors from ingredients such as coconut and coffee.

Making viscous and luxurious dessert stouts is hard enough on systems designed for high-gravity beers, but Jon Shari of Little Cottage takes the challenge one step further, brewing his sought-after mega stouts on a nano scale.

In this clip from his video course, Phase Three cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns lays out how they use cinnamon in their big stouts and barrel-aged beers—including a very unscientific way to measure it.

In this clip from his video course, Phase Three cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns goes into detail on types of coconut and what they bring to beer, mixing and matching those types, when and how much to add, and more.

Inspired by Holstein: Chocolate Marzipan from BKS Artisan Ales in Kansas City, Missouri, here’s a recipe that uses marzipan (or almond paste) and cacao nibs for a decadent yet smooth and drinkable milk stout.

The rise of dessert stouts has included no small number of marshmallow beers, with the potential to evoke childhood memories of fireside treats. So, how do you brew with marshmallows—and is it even worth the mess?