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| Tony Cenicola/The New York Times |
Eric Asimov unravels the mysteries of stout in the New York Times today, tasting 19 bottles of the North American versions of the United Kingdom classic.
PEOPLE get stuck on the word stout. It confuses, the way it connotes size and fleshiness. And the color, too � inky, impenetrable black � suggests mass and power. As a result, many people think stout is a formidable blockbuster of an ale, heavy and alcoholic, just the way they assume darker roasts of coffee have more caffeine than lighter roasts. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Stout in its classic form is one of the lighter ales, paradoxically full-bodied yet delicate.
As a bartender with a nitro tap devoted to Sly Fox O'Reilly's Stout, a local riff on the quintessential dry, roasty Irish stout that most of us tasted first in Guinness, people daily wrinkle their noses when I suggest they try the black brew.� "It's so heavy. It makes me feel so full," is the common refrain.
Nevermind that a dry Irish stout has fewer calories (about 100 per 12 ounces) and less alcohol (4.5 to 6 percent for most; excepting big Imperial or double styles)� than a typical IPA.�� The solution?� Read Asimov's rundown for the top tastes in their field, then taste a fresh, sprightly local version -- with your eyes closed.
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