Tropical Stout
Tropical stout: the sweet, fruity, smooth strong stout of the Caribbean and other hot countries, such as Dragon Stout and Royal Extra. Strength and taste.
- Family
- Ale
- Origin
- Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas
- Colour
- Black
- Strength
- 5.5–8% ABV
- Bitterness
- 30–50 IBU
- Colour scale
- 30–40 SRM (59–79 EBC)
A tropical stout pours very deep brown to black under a large tan to brown head. It tastes sweet and smooth, of coffee or chocolate, with plenty of fruit from the yeast and sometimes a dark rum, molasses or burnt-sugar note. The bitterness is restrained and there is no burnt edge. It runs at 5.5–8% alcohol.
Where it comes from
Brewers in the Caribbean and other hot countries adapted the foreign extra stout with local ingredients and methods. Their beer did not have to survive a sea voyage, and local drinkers liked it sweeter, so they hopped it less. Dragon Stout from Desnoes & Geddes in Jamaica, Royal Extra Stout from Carib in Trinidad and Strong Back Stout from the Bahamian Brewery are among the BJCP’s examples, with Jamaica Stout, Lion Stout and ABC Extra Stout. Royal Extra dates from about 1908 and is called the oldest beer brand in the Caribbean. Many Caribbean brewers also make Guinness Foreign Extra Stout under licence.
Next to its neighbours
It tastes like a scaled-up sweet stout with more fruit, and is much sweeter and less bitter than a foreign extra stout of the same strength. It resembles some imperial stouts without their bitterness, burnt roast, late hops and alcohol.
Tropical Stout in numbers
- Classic examples
- Desnoes & Geddes (Red Stripe), Carib Brewery, Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company, Kerze
- Original gravity
- 1.056–1.075
- Final gravity
- 1.010–1.018
- Classic examples
- Dragon Stout; Royal Extra Stout; Jamaica Stout; Lion Stout; ABC Extra Stout
- BJCP style
- 16C Tropical Stout
Sources
Checked .
- 16C. Tropical Stout, 2021 Beer Style Guidelines — Beer Judge Certification Program
- The Popular Origins of Caribbean Stout — Craft Beer & Brewing
