The Best Stouts of 2020
December 20, 2020
Incoming hot take: stouts are delicious. We love them to warm us up on a cool wintry day, and we love them as a roasty post-dinner treat. Or a pre-dinner treat. Or during dinner. Or with any meal. The point is we love stouts. Whenever we hit the taproom of a new brewery, our eyes usually go straight to the end of the list where the stouts live. They can be relatively simple, they can be packed with additional flavors, they can be aged in barrels for years– it doesn’t matter how they were made as long as they end up in our glasses. Below is a list of the best stouts we had in 2020. As with our list of the best sour beers of 2020, we’re basing our list on date of consumption, not on date tapped or bottled.
We’re also limiting the list to one beer per brewery, just as we’ve done with our other lists. Selecting just one stout from titans like The Bruery, Fremont, Horus, and Other Half may seem like an impossible task. Well, you’re right– it was. We had hundreds of stouts and loved the vast majority. However, we clenched our fists and typed out a list of the thirty that, for whatever reason, stood out from the pack. (We realize you can’t clench your fist and then type– we were trying to emphasize the difficulty of the task.) Here are those standout stouts.
While the Game of Thrones finale was largely considered to be disappointing, this oak aged chile stout from 903 Brewers, Dracarys, scorched the competition like Khaleesi did King’s Landing. You’ll likely notice a number of stouts on this list with a spicy kick– Dracarys delivers a terrific balance of smoke, spice, and chocolate. It always satisfies, just like a Lannister always pays his debts.
Arizona Wilderness: Superstition Coffee Stout
Certain breweries make great beer across all styles, from saisons to stouts. Arizona Wilderness absolutely qualifies as one of those breweries– we had a great time at their downtown Phoenix taproom this fall, and we’ll certainly go back again soon. Their coffee stout, Superstition Coffee Stout, mixes its strong coffee flavor with smooth vanilla creaminess. This isn’t the first Arizona Wilderness beer on one of our year-end lists, and I doubt, going forward, that it’ll be the last.
“The Space Jam is an absolutely absurd BBA coconut, chocolate, and raspberry stout. We were there the day it dropped, and they served coconut raspberry ice cream to compliment it— and that combination still lingers in our minds four months later.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
The Bruery: Black Tuesday: Blueberry Pancake
“We had several of the Black Tuesday variants this year, but we’ll highlight the Black Tuesday: Blueberry Pancake here. Many pancake beers go too heavy on the maple syrup, but this one strikes the right blend of blueberry, maple, and bourbon— and it’s tremendously smooth for a 19+% ABV.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
“I was over at the Burial Beer booth, gladly guzzling Who Knew, their coffee-and-cinnamon collaboration with Other Half. It was so thick that when I went to the next booth, they had to give it a double rinse— one mere water rinse wouldn’t defeat this thicc treat.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Flatland Brewing: Black is Beautiful
“Weathered Souls Brewing created a terrific stout base and encouraged other breweries to get creative with their respective batches– Flatland went with coconut, vanilla, and cacao nibs…. Flatland’s stouts are where they really shine— and their sweet, coconutty Black is Beautiful stood out from the pack.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
Fremont Brewing: BBA Dark Star: Chocolate, Vanilla, Maple Syrup 2019
“Fremont was near the top of my must-visit list for this festival, and the BBA Dark Star was as expected. It’s full bodied with nice barrel flavor, and the creaminess from the vanilla rounds the whole thing out to perfection.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Highland Park Brewery: Fluffernutter Griffith
“We got to sample an absurd number of variants of their terrific imperial stout, Griffith J Griffith… if we had to choose, the Fluffernutter Griffith takes the cake: the coffee, peanut butter and vanilla blend with the rich cocoa to make one of the better fluffernutter stouts we’ve ever had.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
Horus Aged Ales: Hazelnut Crown
“Horus’s hype is real, but it’s also well-earned. The Hazelnut Crown collaboration with Three Chiefs is thick, fragrant, and rich— like consuming Nutella motor oil. Of Horus’s stout options on Saturday, this one took the crown.” Read more about this beer in our Juicy Brews Beach Party coverage.
J. Wakefield Brewing: Epirus Bow
“A J. Wakefield/Mortalis collaboration stout carries weight– too many great stouts have come from these two breweries to have their combined efforts be short of spectacular. The Epirus Bow didn’t disappoint: it’s like a hazelnut espresso with a chocolate syrup chaser.” Read more about this beer in our Juicy Brews Beach Party coverage.
“Lunchbox Hero is a monster Fluffernutter beer, lacing your tongue with creamy peanut butter, vanilla, and marshmallow. I’ve never had a Fluffernutter sandwich with an iced coffee for lunch… but Kane’s selections have me thinking it’s a good idea.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Magnify Brewing: Ugly Sweater Party
“Magnify makes BANGERS. The Ugly Sweater Party, a coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla jawdropper, more than holds its own next to the most hyped stouts of the festival.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Modern Times: MT Ultra Coconut 2020
“The MT Ultra: Coconut 2020 is as decadent as it gets— the richest toasted coconut flavor I’ve ever had in a beer, and obscene smoothness for a 13.5% ABV. It sits at a staggering 4.79 on Untappd for a reason: it’s the best stout we’ve had all year.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
Moksa Brewing: Barrel Aged Mostra 5th
“They served this vanilla, maple, and espresso stout in small individual cups topped with vanilla whipped cream and vanilla powder. Sometimes at festivals, many of the delicious beers can blend together, but this singular concoction stood out from the pack.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
We don’t like to repeat our best of selections year after year if we can help it… but we can’t help it here. As we said in last year’s Great American Beer Fest coverage: “Everyone knows Moonraker for its exceptional hazy IPAs, but we were especially taken aback by the Foam Walker, their Nitro Coffee Stout, creamy and salty and rich.” Foamwalker by Moonraker is still the best nitro stout in a can we’ve ever had, so it makes our list for the second year in a row here.
Nortons Brewing: Dad the Metal Head
Normally, when you’re looking for a stellar Mexican hot chocolate stout, you wouldn’t think the first place to search would be… Kansas. That said, Nortons Brewing in Wichita sells 8 ounce dads of their incredible barrel aged Mexican hot chocolate stout, Dad the Metal Head– and our first sip told us that, regardless of where it came from, Nortons is dishing out the real deal. There’s bold chocolate and cinnamon, and the cayenne heat expertly toes the line of extreme heat without ever crossing it.
The Original 40 Brewing Company: Zazu’s Tutelage
“We visited The Original 40 Brewing in San Diego for the first time this year and found them to be one of the best craft breweries in San Diego… our favorite? You guessed it: Zazu’s Tutelage, a gooey vanilla hot chocolate treat that ranks… among the best stouts in the state.” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
Other Half Brewing: Bananaversary
“All were brilliant, but the standout? The Bananaversary, their anniversary stout which takes a typically splendid boozy OH stout experience and adds splashes of sumptuous banana at the end.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Perennial Artisan Ales: Coffee Stout (2020 Dark Matter)
This year brought our first exposures to Perennial Artisan Ales. We even got our first tastes of the world-famous Abraxas. That said, we think our favorite this year was likely their Coffee Stout with Dark Matter coffee– it’s bold, full-bodied fudge motor oil with a big fluffy head and righteous coffee richness. We’re hoping we’ll get Perennial beer perennially from now on.
Phase Three Brewing: Curvature (Neapolitan)
“Their Curvature beers were full-bodied, sweet, and tasty. But the biggest reason this beer stands out is the smell, a sense-defying neapolitan ice cream fragrance that you can detect even when holding your glass at a distance.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
“Most Mexican hot chocolate imperial stouts promise the inclusion of a hint of spice to give it that little splash of caliente… but so rarely do these stouts deliver on that promise. But does Chocosaurus Rex deliver? You bet Jurassic does. (Read that joke aloud. We’re sorry.)” Read more about this beer in our Best California Beers of 2020 coverage.
Short Throw Brewing: Low Brow Nobility
Low Brow Nobility was our introduction to this North Haven, CT brewery, and from the taste of this banger, there’s more nobility than low brow when it comes to these brewers. The coffee is dark and roasty, and the maple presence doesn’t serve to turn the stout sweet– it serves to perfectly balance the roast. Between this and their IPAs we had this year, Short Throw is a long throw ahead of the competition.
Much of this article is dedicated to the huge imperial barrel-aged stouts, but we also have major love for the straight-forward milk stouts– in many ways, a memorable milk stout is harder to execute than the big-time pastry monsters. Sunriver Brewing from Oregon gave us the best pure milk stout we had all year, a silky glass of milk chocolate beer that sent us back to our days sipping Yoohoo on the playground. But, you know, with alcohol.
Timber Ales: The Pugs and the Pit
We here at the Beer Travel Guide are huge lovers of pitbulls. We bought this Timber Ales/Moksa collaboration not just because we love Moksa and we’d heard great things about Timber Ales, but because, well, we love dogs. Fortunately, the beer lives up to the name, providing a rich cocoa, caramel, and vanilla stout that warmed our insides just like pitbulls warm our hearts.
Tired Hands Brewing: Gatherer 2019
“Gatherer is a honey stout, balancing its roasty coffee notes with some pleasant sweetness. Then, at the end, an earthy herbal quality serves to ground the bigger flavors and keep them from overwhelming. A brilliantly executed beer.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Tree House Brewing: Double Shot (Vanilla Bean)
This is Tree House’s second year on this list– their IPAs get a lot of (well-deserved) hype, but their stouts are absolutely on par with the haze. We busted open the Double Shot Vanilla Bean for a pre-pandemic celebration, and our friends said it was one of the best beers they’ve ever had. Like their stouts from last year, this Double Shot was velvety, thick, and oh-so-smooth. We’re counting the hours til our next trip to Charlton.
TrimTab Brewing: Astronaut Ice Cream
We were introduced to multiple Sun Belt breweries this year– TrimTab Brewing in Alabama and Southern Prohibition in Misssissippi came with the most buzz. Needless to say, getting an imperial stout collaboration between both of these southeastern titans was quite a treat. This boozy milk stout was brewed with actual astronaut ice cream sandwiches, giving its flavor profile some complexity while still delivering on its creamy chocolate promise.
The Veil: Dub Reese Cup Hornswoggler
The Veil made this list two years ago for another of its peanut butter Hornswoggler stouts. At the time, we said it had “Reese’s Cup level balance and Nicki Minaj level thickness.” We stand by that assessment in 2020 for the Dub Reese Cup Hornswoggler. Few breweries make peanut butter stouts taste so natural and so good. Now if The Veil would only unleash a Jelly Hornswoggler…
Voodoo Brewery: Florida Stout: Coconut
“This beer stands on its own right along side the Angry Chairs, Cycles, and J. Wakefields. It’s sweet without rotting my teeth, leaning heavily into the richness of the coconut. It’d absolutely bring a tropical Gulf of Mexico vibe to any Meadville, Pennsylvania party.” Read more about this beer in our Carnival of Caffeination coverage.
Weldwerks: Coffee Coconut Stout
It’s no surprise that Weldwerks was mentioned in last year’s Best IPAs list for its magical artistry in the world of haze– but we discovered through several Weldwerks stouts this year how strong their powers are across all styles (though considering we loved their hot sauce taco gose last year, we should’ve seen our love for all things Weldwerks coming). It’s the ideal marriage of coffee and coconut, both flavors rich, but neither dominating the other, sharing the spotlight in pastry harmony.
What were your favorite stouts in 2020? What are you looking forward to trying in 2020? Please let us know in the comments below! Check out our lists of the Best Sour Beers of 2020, and keep an eye out for more Best of 2020 lists coming in the next couple of weeks!
