Craft Beer Mysteries of the Universe: Blonde Stout

Once in awhile, I get really confused about a beer or beer style, and that day came this weekend.

I purchased “Golden Boy” by Marz Community Brewing. It’s a White Chocolate Stout with pretzel and cocoa nibs. One problem though...it is not dark! It’s as golden as a blonde ale. My generalized definition of a stout has always been an ale comprised of roasted malts, thus the darker color.

So...what exactly is it?!?!! Is it a stout because it used stout-like adjuncts and yeast? Is it really a stout but they found a way to take the dark color out of the roasted malt? Or is it just a blonde ale with stout-like adjuncts?

My Verdict: With my brewing and craft beer experience, I think the “blonde stout” is a B.S. beer style. This is just a golden/blonde ale with white chocolate, pretzels, and cocoa nibs. The yeast may even be a stout yeast, but still..this is not a stout. I can believe that in the Wild West West that is the craft beer world, genres of beer and our definitions of what is what is going to be continually tested. The kind of ingredients, brewing methods, new hop and yeast strains used is all changing rapidly. I welcome this! But calling this a stout is a bit too far-fetched for me.

Brewers...craft beer fans..I encourage your opinions and comments. What am I missing here?

Despite the confusion, It was still a pretty solid ale. I did get some nice white chocolate flavors and the pretzel added an interesting nuance in the malt bill. For being a golden blonde, it was amazing sweet, crisp, and flavorful. I do applaud the brewers for being ambitious and putting together a solid offering, despite my disagreement.

Cheers everyone! Please follow and/or upvote if you enjoyed the post!