Word Nerd: Stout

Stout [staʊt]

adjective

1. (as applied to a person) solidly built of either fat or muscle; heavyset or corpulent

2. courageous, bold, strong, resolute or vigorous

noun

3. a strong, chocolate-hued porter-style ale usually characterized by roasted malt and invigorated by a healthy dose of hops

Origin:

Before 1300 stout referred only to pride, bravery and strength, having arrived from the Old French, estout (earlier estolt), meaning strong. The Anglo-Norman is probably rooted in the Germanic stult, stolt, which could imply being both arrogant or stately.

As describing the human body as thickset, large or physically strong, it was only first recorded in 1804.

The term is first applied to beer in 1677 as an adjective meaning “strong” to denote a particularly potent ale. Then porter-style ales gained popularity in 1720s London among the working class. Porter, meaning carrier, is supposedly named for the laborers who liked their brews cheap and heady and as heavy as a meal. A stout porter was only meant to distinguish an especially brawny batch before each term took on its own particular stylistic characteristics, though to this day those characteristics are still interrelated and the source of plenty of debate in the brewery community.

“Porter may be divided into two classes, namely, brown-stout, and porter properly so called. The London porter has deservedly obtained the reputation of being the best in the world; it is a wholesome, cooling and at the same time nutritive beverage … Brown-stout is only a fuller bodied kind of porter than that which serves for ordinary drinking. A great deal of this is exported to America and the West Indies.”

—Thomas Mortimer, A General Dictionary of Commerce, Trade, and Manufactures, Gillet and Son, London, 1810

“February is Stout Month at Fort George Brewery. The shortest and darkest month of the year is the perfect time to showcase the variety within this rich, dark style of beer. Every Monday starting Feb. 1, new Fort specialty stouts are released at the pub.”

—“It’s Stout Month at Fort George Brewery,” Coast Weekend, Feb. 1, 2016