Tropical Stout
I know I’m treading in dangerous waters whenever I start talking about the history of porters and stouts. The beers have changed over time, have many regional variations and are often called different names. So rather than digging too deeply into that contentious ground, let me stick to modern times and how today’s dark, strong beers came about in many tropical areas of the world.
In the 2008 Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Style Guidelines, tropical stout was part of a style called foreign extra stout that also contained the export-type stout variant. Confusingly, many people called this category foreign export stout or simply FES. These styles were described as higher gravity versions of sweet and dry stouts, respectively, but that is more of how they are perceived than their actual history. In the 2015 Style Guidelines, tropical stout is style 16C while foreign extra stout is style 16D.
Stronger, export-strength stouts have existed for almost as long as porters and stouts, although have often been called different names. Guinness traces their current foreign extra stout to 1801, and describes it as containing extra hops to give it a distinctive taste and a longer shelf life in hot weather. In many parts of the world, this type of beer is brewed locally as a pale ale with the addition of a dark syrup produced in Ireland by Guinness. However, this is not the beer that is tropical stout.
The tropical stout brewed today in the Caribbean and elsewhere is generally a local adaptation of the foreign extra stout style brewed with indigenous ingredients and methods. As most tropical breweries produce lager beer, tropical stout is often made with a warm-fermented lager yeast. Local sugars are used to boost the gravity and often to replace some of the darker grains and introduce color and flavor to the beer. The bitterness is lower than the export-type beers since the tropical stouts do not have to be shipped abroad.
Sensory Profile
As a stout, tropical stout should be quite dark in color, in the very deep brown to black range, with a medium-full to full body. Since the alcohol is above average in strength (5.5% to 8%, sometimes slightly more), the beer can have a warming feel to it. The lower bitterness (30 to 50 IBUs, as compared to the 50 to 70 IBUs in the foreign extra stout) helps the beer seem sweeter. Given that the bittering level can still vary quite a bit, the sweetness level of the beer can also be quite variable.
The darker grains and malts and lower bitterness add a smooth coffee and chocolate flavor, often with a dark rum-like quality. Burnt sugar flavors (very dark caramel) are common, as is fruitiness from malts, yeast, and sometimes sugars. As with many other stouts, the hop aroma and flavor is generally non-existent.
The important balance component of the style is that there is a dark and smooth roasted character without the characteristic bite of an Irish stout. Additional complexity of dark sugars have a molasses, licorice, dark fruit, or dried fruit quality that enhances the flavor of the roasted malts. The bitterness is restrained so that the beer isn’t overly bittersweet. Burnt malt flavors are typically absent, and there shouldn’t be a harshness to the beer.
The overall impression winds up seeming like a stronger version of a sweet stout at times, but there is rarely a lactose-like quality to the beer. The balance between the roasted malts, the fruitiness, the bitterness level, and the sugary flavors can be hard to get right, since the flavors can be quite intense and can clash at times. I find that overly hoppy versions of the beer seem quite rough to my palate, and often make me think of a small, immature imperial stout.
Brewing Ingredients and Methods
The first choice to be made when brewing this beer is whether to make it using ale or lager yeast. Lager yeast is more traditional in modern brewing practices, but it’s possible to use ale yeast and attempt to recreate the inspiration for the style. If attempting an ale, I think the best choices are fruity English ale yeasts at moderate (normal) temperatures. I do like the smoothness that lager yeast and lagering gives to the style, however, so please don’t write that off because it’s more difficult. If you’ve made bière de garde, you know that a warmer fermented lager yeast can produce a smooth, malty, clean beer that has an interesting fruitiness.
Since the fermentation temperature range is outside the norm for lagers, choosing a strain that will stay clean with added fruitiness is best. I like some of the German lager strains, but I think you could also try something like the Wyeast 2112 (California Lager) that is typically used in California common. I’ve used that strain in Baltic porter, for instance, and that style shares a lot in common with tropical stout (from a balance standpoint, not history).
You should avoid choosing lager strains that throw a lot of sulfur or are known diacetyl producers. The sugars and crystal malts will produce enough butterscotch-like flavors without adding the buttery diacetyl quality to the beer. If you do make the beer as a lager, it doesn’t need an extended lagering time since you aren’t looking for a squeaky-clean final product. Three or four weeks should be plenty of time for the beer to condition, as long as you are lagering at a near-freezing temperature.
Choosing dark malts that add roastiness without a harsh bite is important. I typically use some of the debittered dark malts for this purpose, and find these malts enhance the flavor profile of the traditional roasted barley found in many stouts. If you use more traditional dark malts like chocolate and black patent, keep the percentage relatively low to avoid burnt flavors.
Crystal malts and sugars can provide much of the flavor of the beer. I like to use dark to extra dark crystal malts that bring in the burnt sugar and dark fruit flavors. Any kind of brown sugar can add more flavor too, although I typically avoid brown sugar that is simply white cane sugar colored with molasses. Unrefined sugars can add complex flavors — these are frequently found in specialty markets that cater to people from hot, sugar-producing areas of the world. However, simple cane sugar or corn sugar can be used as well.
The rest of the production process for the beer is fairly straightforward. It can be made with a single infusion mash. Hops are not distinctive, and are usually just one bittering charge.
Homebrew Example
The recipe at the end of this article is somewhat generic, but when I brew it I make some specific choices that drive the final flavor profile. The most important grain in the beer in my opinion is the English extra dark crystal malt. In this case, I’m using Simpsons extra dark crystal, a 160 Lovibond malt. This has a burnt sugar and dark fruit character that I think is key to the style. The use of Special B malt adds a raisin character that goes with the rum-like flavor from the dark crystal (and brown sugar). Turbinado sugar is easy to find, but I also like to play around with any unrefined cane sugar, particularly if it is evaporated or is otherwise minimally processed.
I like the smoothness in flavor of the dark malts when added at vorlauf, and I think the debittered black malt (Carafa III) helps in this regard. I prefer a touch of chocolate in this beer, so I often use Thomas Fawcett chocolate malt, but more Carafa® could be used instead. You need some roasted barley to know it’s a stout but I don’t want too dry of a finish so I limit it to about 5.5% of the grist.
I’ve made this recipe as both an ale and a lager, but I’m going more authentic here with a warm-fermented lager yeast. I chose the Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) strain since it is both clean and malty, and fermenting it at 59 °F (15 °C) gives it some additional fruitiness. When I make it as an ale, I typically use Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) yeast at 68 °F (20 °C) but Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) would be a good substitute as well.
I chose to balance the beer on the strong and sweet side, shooting for an ABV of about 7.5%. The sweetness is more from low bittering (30 IBUs) than a high final gravity or sweetener addition. I don’t want the beer to have a huge body since you should be able to drink it in hot weather.
I know it seems counter-intuitive that a strong, dark, somewhat sweet beer can be so refreshing in hot weather, but those Jamaicans know what they’re doing, mon.
Tropical Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.071 FG = 1.016
IBU = 30 SRM = 56 ABV = 7.5%
Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) Golden Promise pale ale malt
12 oz. (340 g) UK roasted barley
8 oz. (227 g) UK extra dark crystal (160 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) Carafa® Special III malt
4 oz. (113 g) UK chocolate malt
4 oz. (113 g) Belgian Special B malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) turbinado or other unrefined sugar (15 min.)
9 AAU UK Golding hops (60 min.)(1.5 oz./43 g at 6% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Two or three days before brew day, make a 2-qt. (2-L) yeast starter, aerating the wort thoroughly (preferably with oxygen) before pitching the yeast.
On brew day, prepare your ingredients; mill the grain, measure your hops, and prepare your water. This recipe uses reverse osmosis (RO) water. Add 1⁄4 tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons (19 L) of brewing water, or until water measures pH 5.5 at room temperature. Add 1 tsp. calcium chloride (CaCl2) to the mash.
On brew day, mash in the pale ale malt at 152 °F (67 °C) in 18 qts. (17 L) of water, and hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Raise the temperature by infusion or direct heating to 158 °F (70 °C) for 15 minutes. Finally, raise to 168 °F (76 °C)to mashout. Add the remaining malts, and recirculate for 20 minutes. Fly sparge with 168 °F (76 °C) water until 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort is collected.
Boil the wort for 90 minutes, adding the hops at times indicated in the recipe. The sugar is added directly to the boil with 15 minutes remaining. Chill to 59 °F (15 °C). Oxygenate the wort, then pitch the yeast starter. Ferment at 59 °F (15 °C) until fermentation is complete. Rack the beer and lager at 32 °F (0 °C) for 3 weeks. Prime and bottle condition, or keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes.
Tropical Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.071 FG = 1.016
IBU = 30 SRM = 56 ABV = 7.5%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) light liquid malt extract
12 oz. (340 g) UK roasted barley
8 oz. (227 g) UK extra dark crystal (160 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) Carafa® Special III malt
4 oz. (113 g) UK chocolate malt
4 oz. (113 g) Belgian Special B malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) turbinado or other unrefined sugar (15 min.)
9 AAU UK Golding hops (60 min.)(1.5 oz./43 g at 6% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Use 6 gallons (23 L) of water in the brew kettle; heat to 158 °F (70 °C).
Place the dark grains and the crystal malts in a mesh bag and steep in the hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the mesh bag, then turn the heat off.
Add the liquid malt extract and stir thoroughly to dissolve the extract completely. You do not want to feel liquid extract at the bottom of the kettle when stirring with your spoon. Turn the heat back on and bring to a boil. Boil the wort for 60 minutes, adding the hops at the times indicated in the recipe. Add the sugar in the last 15 minutes of the boil.
Chill to 59 °F (15 °C). Oxygenate the wort, then pitch the yeast starter. Ferment at 59 °F (15 °C) until fermentation is complete. Rack the beer and lager at 32 °F (0 °C) for 3 weeks. Prime and bottle condition, or keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes.
Recipe substitution options:
There are certain ingredients in this recipe that can be played with to create minor differences in the resulting beer.
Turbinado sugar is easy to find, but I also like to play around with any unrefined cane sugar, particularly if it is evaporated or is otherwise minimally processed.
The base malt in my recipe is Golden Promise malt, but really any two-row or pale ale malt is fine. I like the extra richness from the Golden Promise malt, but it can be hard to find and expensive, so can be substituted. I prefer a touch of chocolate in this beer, so I often use Thomas Fawcett chocolate malt, but more Carafa® could be used instead.
Finally, when it comes to fermenting, I’ve made this recipe as both an ale and a lager. I’m going more authentic here with a warm-fermented lager yeast. I chose the Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) strain since it is both clean and malty, and fermenting it at 59 °F
(15 °C) gives it some additional fruitiness. When I make it as an ale, I typically use Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) yeast at 68 °F (20 °C) but Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) would be a good substitute as well.
