
Highest-rated stouts in Colorado
Highest-rated stouts in Colorado
They're dark, creamy, and may have the consistency of used motor oil—and stout lovers wouldn't have their beer any other way.
Stouts are technically ales, a group of flavorful beers made with yeast fermented at a higher temperature. These brews are dark brown or black in color due to a key ingredient: charred, unmalted barley. This also imparts a roasted flavor to the beer, resulting in notes of bitter coffee or sweet chocolate.
Other ingredients can add different flavors and mouthfeel to the stout. Oatmeal leads to a caramel color and a more malty flavor. Milk stouts contain lactose for sweetness and body, while American Imperial stouts are richer in taste thanks to additional malts and hops. Pastry stouts brewed with cake, candy, or even peanut butter are a dessert drink for some.
Stout flavor profiles also vary by region. English stouts have a dry finish and get their characteristic bitterness from roasted barley. Irish dry stouts, the best known of which is Guinness, have a creamy taste and a distinctive foamy head produced by nitrogen gas taps. American stouts contain American hops and dark malt for a more bitter flavor.
While stouts can be highly drinkable—Irish dry stouts can be as low as 4.2% ABV—the beer style also allows brewers to push the envelope in terms of alcohol content. The strongest of the group, Imperial stouts, can be upwards of 12% ABV; for example, the 2024 iteration of Goose Island Brewing Company's famed Bourbon County Stout clocked in at 14.7%.
Although lager is the most popular type of beer in the United States, roughly 1 in 5 beer drinkers enjoys stouts regularly. That gives America's almost 9,800 craft brewers plenty of reason to develop new riffs on the style. With this variety in mind, Stacker compiled a list of the best stouts from Colorado using data from BeerAdvocate and sorted according to their weighted ranking. Beers without images were excluded. Only stouts that made BeerAdvocate's top 100 list by state were included.
#21. Milk Stout Nitro
- Type: Sweet / Milk Stout
- ABV: 6.0%
- Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#20. BA21 Vol. 5
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.3%
- Brewery: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#19. Gorpe Diem
- Type: Sweet / Milk Stout
- ABV: 15.13%
- Brewery: Avery Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#18. Mr. Sandman - Whiskey Barrel-Aged
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.2%
- Brewery: River North Brewery
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#17. Big Yeti
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.5%
- Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#16. Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 9.5%
- Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#15. Jolly Russian
- Type: Russian Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.0%
- Brewery: Odell Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#14. Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 9.5%
- Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#13. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 9.5%
- Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#12. Raspberry Truffale
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 14.0%
- Brewery: Avery Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#11. Yeti - Barrel-Aged
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 12.5%
- Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#10. Legend Of The Liquid Brain
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 12.0%
- Brewery: Bull & Bush Brewery
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#9. Summer Starry Noche
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 14.6%
- Brewery: WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#8. Achromatic - Coffee Maple
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 11.6%
- Brewery: WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#7. Medianoche - Peanut Butter Cup
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.1%
- Brewery: WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#6. Ten FIDY
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 10.5%
- Brewery: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#5. Uncle Jacob's Stout
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 14.9%
- Brewery: Avery Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#4. Starry Noche
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 15.6%
- Brewery: WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#3. Tweak
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 13.1%
- Brewery: Avery Brewing Company
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#2. Ten FIDY - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 12.5%
- Brewery: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
#1. Medianoche - Coconut
- Type: American Imperial Stout
- ABV: 14.1%
- Brewery: WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Read more on BeerAdvocate
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.