History of Imperial Stouts
During the 18th century, porter emerged as the most dominant beer style in England, with its stronger version “stout porter,” rising in popularity toward the end of the century. The term stout was initially used in England to describe a high-alcohol, bolder-flavored version of any beer style, but over time it was used almost exclusively to describe a strong porter. First referred to as a “stout porter,” the stronger porter was eventually simplified to “stout.”
As stouts evolved over time, a stronger export version of stout emerged – a style now referred to as an imperial stout.
According to traditional lore, the story of imperial stout began in 1698, when a young Russian Tsar, visited England and fell in love with porters. The young man, who would become known as Peter the Great, had such a great affinity for the dark and robust English brews, he ordered a stronger version that could withstand the journey to the royal court in Russia.
While Peter the Great may have developed a taste for dark, malty English brews, there is no historical evidence to support his creation of imperial stout. In fact, the first written record of porter didn’t appear until much later, in 1721. It’s more likely that imperial stout came into its own gradually over time, though London’s Anchor Brewery is widely credited with popularizing the style.
Anchor Brewery, under the ownership of politician Henry Thrale, was among the first to ship its beer overseas to Russia in the mid-1700s. In 1781, Anchor Brewery was sold to Robert Barclay and John Perkins, and Barclay Perkins’ Russian imperial stout that became the definitive example of the style.
Why ‘Russian’ Imperial Stout?
A thriving shipping industry, coupled with favourable shipping routes in the Baltic Sea, allowed English brewers to expand into foreign markets to innumerable ports in the Baltic region. Taking advantage of demand abroad, the brewers purposely brewed strong and hoppy beer. Export-strength stouts were perfectly suited for the long voyage, as well as a bitter cold climate, where spirits were overwhelmingly favoured.
The high-octane stouts found a home in the Imperial Court of Russia, where then-Empress Catherine the Great developed a taste for the dark, export strength brew and its warming effects. Barclay Perkins began sending regular shipments of its stout, called “Entire,” directly to Catherine, ensuring not only its commercial success, but cementing its place in Russian history.
Imperial Stouts Over Time
Although Barclay’s was the most famous brewer of imperial stouts, there were several breweries in London and surrounding areas that brewed export-strength stouts. By the 1820s and 30s, the term “imperial” was used as a marketing term by brewers and retailers to represent, the strongest and often most expensive version of a particular beer style. An imperial stout recipe from 1856 included in the Oxford Companion to Beer, reveals an aggressively hopped and bitter brew, with an ABV higher than 10%.
During the last half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, porter and stout sales began to decline steadily. In addition to consumer preference shifting to pale lagers and ales, taxation and rationing during wartime meant that production of costly, high alcohol beer was quickly abandoned. In Britain, Barclay Perkins was the only brewery that continued brewing their imperial stout, despite the considerable disruption of two world wars. Their focus shifted away from international trade to providing a domestic supply to the home market, bottle aging their stout at the brewery for a minimum of one year.
Barclay Perkins merged with neighbor Courage Brewery in 1955, as interest in imperial stouts continued to wane. In 1970, the brewery released Courage’s Russian Imperial Stout, which was the first time the term “Russian Imperial Stout” was officially named. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Courage would release a batch of this imperial stout every couple of years, with the last in 1993.
Imperial Stouts & American Craft Beer
In the early 80s, a beer importing company from Seattle called Merchant Du Vin, discovered Russian imperial stout and asked England’s Samuel Smith Old Brewery to brew a version for export to the American market. The introduction of Russian imperial stout was embraced by American beer enthusiasts, leading to the renaissance of the style within the U.S., which coincided with the American craft beer boom.
Today, imperial stout is most prevalent in United States, and continues to be one of the most popular strong beer styles among American craft brewers. Modern imperial stouts are dark ales, bold, rich and deeply flavoured with roasted-burnt malt, but are otherwise fairly open to interpretation. Hop flavours can range from low to aggressively hopped, and common flavour additions include dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla and fruit. Some interpretations include barrel-aged versions as imperial stouts are designed to age nicely, with flavours that will evolve over time
If you’re looking for the perfect winter warmer for a cold wintry night, be bold and try an imperial stout.
(Leah is a Toronto based freelance writer as well as the Beer Boss and a server at C’est What)