Sweet Stout or Cream Stout

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Location:British
Category:Ale
BJCP Comparable Category:16A - Sweet Stout

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout style of beer should taste, feel and look. However, there may be perfectly fine beers in this style that fall outside of these ranges and descriptions. This information is just to show the most commonly accepted ranges for the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout beer style.

Body can be increased with the addition of milk sugar (lactose).

  • Color: Black
  • Body: Full
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Medium to medium-high. Malt sweetness, chocolate and caramel should contribute to the aroma and should dominate the flavor profile. Roast flavor may be present. Low to medium-low roasted malt-derived bitterness should be present.
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: Should not be present
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Low to medium-low and serves to balance and suppress some of the sweetness without contributing apparent flavor and aroma
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Fruity esters, if present, are low. Diacetyl should not be present.
  • Common Ingredients: The sweetness in most Sweet Stouts comes from a lower bitterness level than most other stouts and a high percentage of unfermentable dextrins. Lactose, an unfermentable sugar, is frequently added to provide additional residual sweetness. Base of pale malt, and may use roasted barley, black malt, chocolate malt, crystal malt, and adjuncts such as maize or brewing sugars.
  • Commercial Examples: Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, Left Hand Milk Stout, Lancaster Milk Stout, Mackeson's XXX Stout, Marston’s Oyster Stout, Samuel Adams Cream Stout.

Brewing Properties of Sweet Stout or Cream Stout

These are the functional brewing properties of Sweet Stout or Cream Stout beers, as descided by the Brewers Association. These guidelines reflect, as accurately as possible, the historical significance, authenticity or a common profile in the current commercial beer market.

ABV
The alcohol by volume is shows the amount of alcohol this style of beer should have.
3.2 - 6.3%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
15 - 25 IBUs
SRM
SRM is a scale for measuring the color intensity of a beer. Low SRM grains impart a pale straw color while higher values mean it will add a darker color to the wort. Learn more »
40 SRM
(79 EBC)
Original Gravity
Original Gravity (OG) is a measure of the sugar content in the wort before alcoholic fermentation has started to produce the beer.
1.045 - 1.056
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.012 - 1.020

If you see an error in our data, please let us know!

Based on Brewers Association 2020 Beer Style Guidelines with changes. Used with permission of Brewer's Association.