stouts

Chocolate in beer simply makes sense — especially in rich, heavy stouts and porters that already taste something like a liquid brownie. And cherries in a sour beer is a tart and summery idea — a perfect marriage. Even yerba mate, that bitter tea-like herb of Argentina, is a sensible fit in an IPA. But just what was the brewer was thinking who first put oysters into a vat of boiling brew?

British beer gets a bad rap as being boring. The country is best known for its milds and bitters, beer styles whose nuanced pleasures and restrained ABVs seem quaint to American craft-beer drinkers conditioned by hoppy, boozy beers that are about as subtle as a Will Ferrell film. It's not really the case.

For some beer drinkers, there is nothing as sweet as staring down into the dark depths of a pint of black beer. Utterly terrifying to their pale-ale-drinking brethren, porters and stouts are like Christmas in a glass for black-beer lovers. And why wouldn’t they be, with their caramelized flavors and chocolatey aromas.