Robin Shepard
When the Lone Girl Brewing Company opened a few months ago in Waunakee, one of its first beers was brewmaster John Russell’s Sweet Baby Stout. It had previously won “Best of Show” in the Grumpy Troll Homebrew Challenge competition. The honor earned him the privilege of making his first commercial beer with brewmaster Mark Knoebl of the Troll. That experience helped him land the gig at Lone Girl, where Sweet Baby Stout has emerged as a crowd favorite.
What is it? Sweet Baby Stout from Lone Girl Brewing.
Style: The sweet stout is a deep black ale with lots of maltiness that emerges in chocolate, caramel and toffee flavors, sometimes with a roasted quality. The style is medium- to full-bodied, which adds to the sweet impression. As the name suggests, these beers are not hoppy. They range in strength from 3.2 to 6.3 percent ABV.
Background: When John Russell first made this beer about two years ago as a homebrew batch, he was paying tribute to the birth of his daughter, hence the name Sweet Baby Stout. Prior to entering the beer in the Grumpy Troll Challenge last summer, Russell had never entered homebrew competitions, nor brewed commercially.
The beer is made with seven types of malts. In addition to the caramel and dark chocolate grains, Russell uses Maris Otter malt, which lends a smooth, bready sweetness. That English malt gives a different type of sweetness to this stout, distinguishing it from the more common roastedness associated with dark grains and the light dryness of Guinness. Sweet Baby finishes at 5.5 percent ABV. It’s sold in the brewpub for $6/pint and $18/growler (refill).
If you’re a fan of dark ales, Lone Girl also recently tapped a porter called Hondo. It’s similar in appearance but with a much more assertive roasted dark malt.
Tasting notes:
Aroma: Light breadiness and hints of caramel create a sweet impression.
Appearance: Very dark black, with bronze highlights. A bubbly brown head.
Texture: Medium-bodied and soft.
Taste: Smooth, soft, with firm sweetness of caramel and chocolate. There is a very inviting background of toffee and nuttiness from the Maris Otter malt.
Finish/Aftertaste: The smooth, soft sweet hints of chocolate and caramel continue, but they don’t last long. This is a mostly clean-finishing stout.
Glassware: The Lone Girl serves Sweet Baby in the standard bar pint, which unfortunately doesn’t do this beer justice. When I take home a growler, I prefer drinking this beer from the Willi Becher; its slight inward lip focuses the gentle biscuit tones of the Maris Otter malt.
Pairs well with: Well-balanced stouts with soft sweetness like Sweet Baby make versatile food companions. They complement meats like beef and lamb, especially if they have a savory sauce. From the brewpub’s menu, the Surf & Smash (a hamburger that’s topped with a crab cake) works well with the sweetness of Sweet Baby.
The Verdict: Russell is in the early stages of learning what his regulars like in beer. I hope this beer finds a regular place in his lineup. It’s a respectable alternative from hoppy beers and a welcome change of pace from light golden brews. Sweet Baby Stout has layers of malt, but it’s the smooth background of biscuit-breadiness from the Maris Otter malt that I really enjoy. It softens the potentially burnt tones of highly roasted dark barley (which give this beer its black color). It’s sweeter with just a little more body than an Irish stout, but not so sweet that I’d put it into the mix of milk stouts. Here the maltiness is subtle yet solid, making this a very pleasant dark ale to drink.
