Stout - from Coopers Special Old Stout to 4 Pines Black Box of Dark Ales
As the weather darkens, so too should your beer.
It was Ripping Yarns’ man of endlessly fascinating information about weather and shovels, Eric Olthwaite, who observed that his mother’s black puddings were so black, even the white bits were black. It’s a reflection one is given to when considering the old-fashioned world of stouts.
Originating in London, it was the strongest of three types of porter available in the 19th century. It is not, however, for the faint-hearted. The timid tip in lemonade to create a portagaff; others combine it with lighter beer in a cocktail known as a black and tan. Those with a negatively geared property or six combine it with champagne, and the perverted add an oyster. The rest of us wait for winter and drink it slowly, enjoying the way the flavours emerge as proximity to a wood fire takes it from refrigerated to the wrong side of room temperature.
When Australia was plagued by lagers alone, the stout was a reliable fallback for those wanting a bit more oomph in their glass/pot/schooner/middie/pony/six or seven.
Two of the best originated from South Australia. The Southwark Old Stout was a “foreign export” model that kicked off with a 7 per cent plus alcohol content in a day when little crossed the 5 per cent threshold. It’s still made and if you look hard you can find it around.
Coopers Best Extra came from the same family as its local competitor but was not quite as strong. It has endured and evolved but holds a fond place in the heart of many a drinker.
There is a modern trend to drink the Coopers stout after it has had time to age.
Pioneering Sydney craft brewer Geoff’s Scharer, who ran the Little Brewery at the George IV Inn at Picton in the 1980s, once descended on wobbly legs into his cellar and emerged clutching a bottle of the Coopers stout that had been there for almost a decade and pronounced it ready to consume there and then. Details have been blurred by the passing of ales that night and the time passed since that gathering, but from memory it was not flash.
Cam Pearce, Coopers national sales manager and marketing director, cringes at the thought. “It has to be said that all beer is better fresh,” he says. “We do however age our stout because like Coopers Sparkling and our other ales it is bottle fermented and will develop over time.”
In the early 2000s Coopers used to offer a product known as Special Old Stout, which was the Best Extra aged for 12 months before release.
The company is still happy for people to do the same themselves to the stout or the sparkling.
Pearce says it offers a point of difference for drinkers, and it is a bit of a trend in some pubs. Some outlets regularly age the beer for two years and the odd one has kept a keg for five years — try doing that with a delicate little lager!
To many, Coopers is the original craft beer and was the only decent drink available in the bad old days. Today there are more craft beers than there are men with beards.
Sydney’s 4 Pines has become one of the more reliable larger-scale craft brewers on the scene. Before the first cold wind blew across Sydney Harbour the Manly outfit had brewed and released one of the handsomest ranges of beers to be seen in these moderate climes. The Limited Edition Black Box of Dark Ales is a gothic quartet of styles that strikes notes that will chase the winter’s chill from your bones. The Schwarzbier, Coffee Porter, Black IPA and Russian Imperial Stout are sold as a package only. All are good brews, but some are more equal than others.
The Black Imperial Stout taps into a style increasingly popular among small breweries, though it was originally consecrated by Catherine II, Empress of All Russia. Imperials are hoppier and stronger, perhaps because they had to travel by sea and needed the preservative effects of both elements, or perhaps because our Russian friends like a strong drink. Keep an eye out for one this winter, but make a note of your home address before imbibing.
If you are keen for an aged stout, try Metropolitan Hotel, Adelaide; Beer DeLuxe, King Street Wharf Sydney; or Mr Alehouse and Kitchen, Edward Street Brisbane. Or simply buy a case, drink a six-pack now and the others at six-month intervals.