Best Pastry Stout Beers to Try
Welcome to the indulgent world of the best pastry stout beers, where the rich, decadent flavors of your favorite desserts meet the complex, robust character of stout beer. In this exclusive list, we’ve curated the best pastry stout beers you must try!
Everything you need to know about Pastry Stout Beers
Named after the decadent desserts they endeavor to mimic, pastry stouts are a result of brewers experimenting with sweet ingredients, like cacao nibs, caramel, coconut, marshmallows, coffee, forest fruits, biscuits, vanilla beans, and many more, to create a robust stout with a rich, dessert-like finish.
These beers are characterized by their flavor profiles that offer a heavier, sweeter side of stout with notes reminiscent of pastries and desserts.
Though pastry stouts are relatively new to craft beer drinkers and different from other dark stouts and porters, their rise in popularity among sweet tooths has earned them a category at the Great American Beer Festival, with current medalists Board Meeting, Mega Devil’s Teeth: Double Dutch S’mores Edition, and Chaos Grid: The Final Final Course – all wowing the judges with their dessert-like flavors and stout characteristics.
Must-try pastry stouts
If you haven’t tried a pastry stout before, you might want to after reading this best pastry stout beers collection.
People Like Us Covfefe Imperial Stout
As the name suggests, this is an Imperial Stout brewed with coffee. With an ABV of 10.3 percent, this Pastry Stout is brewed with hard-roasted pecans, coffee, and cocoa nibs. You’ll taste the aromas of marshmallow, graham cracker, and cinnamon in every sip, and some people refer to this as a “liquid s’more.”
Covfefe is the first beer in the beer trilogy of the “thank you beer series” which arose from a crowdfunding campaign. The beer is full-bodied and full of rich, creamy coffee texture, leaving a bittersweet dark chocolate flavor behind.
Great Divide Mexican Chocolate
This Imperial Stout, listed in our best chocolate stouts article, is a very special and limited brew from the Great Divide Brewing Company in their venerable Yeti series. Plenty of mouthful spices have been added to this beer, like cinnamon, clove, and mint, alongside rich flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee.
This is a traditional Champurrado drink. These types of drinks have been a tradition in Mayan and Aztec cuisine for centuries.
With a 9.5 percent ABV, this is a relatively strong Pastry Stout and is usually available from April to October.
Bruery Midnight Autumn Maple
With 9 percent ABV, this beer is jam-packed with warm winter spices like nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
Midnight Autumn Maple is a well-balanced beer that is slightly syrupy with a strong base and a perfect blend of winter spices to keep you warm on a cold autumn night.
New Realm Wooded Reserve Barrel-aged Series: Golden Pastry Stout
This is one beer brewed with complete finesse. It has extremely complex flavors and is aged in Barbados Rum barrels with coffee and cocoa. Some tasters have pointed out its counterintuitively refreshing taste.
The drink also has a mouthfeel of caramel, chocolate, and burnt sugar notes that last in the aftertaste with a delicate coffee after the finish.
Peanut Butter & Stout
Lovers of peanut butter will no doubt find this delicious peanut butter stout irresistible.
This incredible stout brewed with lactose, peanuts, and natural flavors is a production of the Narrow gauge Brewing company in Florissant, Missouri, and is one of their finest limited release stouts.
It’s sweet with an ABV of 10.5% and has a chocolate malt base with subtle flavors of peanut, toffee, and molasses.
Southern Tier Samoa This Imperial Stout
This is an Imperial Stout from New York with an ABV of 10 percent. It’s a decadent, flavorful beer that is a complete indulgence.
It has booming notes of chocolate, caramel, and coconut and remains a famous seasonal treat.
Abiogenesis, The Eighth State Brewing Company
Abiogenesis is an Imperial Stout with prominent flavors of Tahitian vanilla beans and banana. It is brash power in a bottle and is one of the most powerful high-alcohol content beers at 16.6 percent ABV.
It’s dark and loud but not syrupy. It has a smooth pour and is easy to drink.
Noa Pecan Mudcake Four Roses BA
Noa Pecan Mudcake is a barrel aged Stout by Omnipollo in Sweden that has been aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels. Though this decadent, rich stout has a relatively strong alcohol content of 14%, it’s hardly recognizable due to the sweet flavors of vanilla, nuts, salted caramel, and coffee.
You’ll notice its thick fudgy mouthfeel upon the first sip followed by a creamy head with all the aromas mentioned above and low carbonation. It’s one for special occasions or an evening sipper, as it’s quite heavy to get through a 12oz can in a hurry.
Temptress Beer, Lakewood Brewing Company
Featuring a deep black color and medium-to-full body, this creamy, sweet stout by Lakewood Brewing is one for pairing with desserts and relaxing with your feet up on a cold winter’s eve.
Temptress Beer, with an ABV of 9.1 percent, is slightly boozy and full of luscious chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, vanilla, and dark cherry aromas on the nose.
Snowbirds stout
With a world class rating of 97 on BeerAdvocate, this 12-24 month bourbon barrel aged stout is an absolute masterpiece. The taste is similar to almond joy, infused with coconut, Marcona almonds, bourbon, and cacao nibs.
Other Half Brewing are renowned for their indulgent pastry stouts, and their snowbirds stout box collection is on another level and perfect for gifting to friends and family. The bourbon is nicely present in this stout and comes with a thick, sweet mouthfeel that takes the zing out of the 14.4% alcohol content.
One of the must-try stouts for any beginner.
Imperial German Chocolate Cupcake Stout
Last on our list of luscious pastry stouts is probably the sweetest of them all!
From the Angry Chair Brewing Company – listed in our article of best breweries to visit in Florida – comes an alcoholic sweet dessert treat with full-bodied flavors of chocolate, vanilla, and coconut.
To sum it up: It’s the perfect chocolate dessert stout with a creamy, thick fudgy mouthfeel, hardly any lacing, and a nice carbonation that makes it feel lighter than it actually is.
FAQ
How are pastry stouts different from other dark stouts or porters?
Pastry stouts differ from other dark stouts, such as porters, due to their use of sweet ingredients reminiscent of pastries or desserts, creating a heavier, sweeter stout flavor and a higher ABV in general.
Are pastry stouts suitable beverages for people who don’t typically enjoy traditional beer?
The sweet characteristics of this beer style make them more palatable to non-beer drinkers. However, they still maintain the strong, robust characteristics of stout beers that may not appeal to everyone.
Are pastry stouts good for pairing with desserts?
Absolutely! The sweet flavors in this style of beer make it a perfect candidate for pairing with desserts or pastries.
Related Stout Beer Articles
If you’re keen to dig deeper into the world of stouts, check out our guides on White Stout for Beginners, American Stout for Beginners, and Pastry Stout Recipe, perfect for brewing your own delicious pastry stout.
Wrapping up
Whether you’re a beer connoisseur or a beginner looking to dip your toes in the stout world, these full-bodied brews with notes of caramel, vanilla, coffee, and chocolate are a must-try. Be sure to share your favorite brews and any memorable tasting notes with us!
