Celebrate Stout Month by having a pour at one of Central Oregon's breweries. 

Did you know that February is Stout Month? It may only be an informal designation, but for many years, Astoria’s Fort George Brewery and others have celebrated this darkest of beer styles all month long.

Fort George started Stout Month in Oregon, and for all of February, the brewery releases a vast variety of specialty stouts, and hosts events such as its Festival of Dark Arts. Stout Month didn’t originate with Fort George, however, rather with co-founder Jack Harris, who came up with the idea in 1994 while brewing at Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery in Boulder, Colorado.

Harris anticipated business slowing down for the winter and came up with the idea to generate interest. “Nobody else was doing it,” he said in a blog post on Fort George’s website. “I certainly wasn’t paying any attention to marketing or filling niches, it was sort of dumb luck on my part that folks really responded to the idea of celebrating a variety of stouts during the cold, dark days of February.”

While there aren’t any Stout Month-style festivities taking place in Central Oregon, there are still plenty of stouts to enjoy all month long. To commemorate the style, I picked up three to try out and highlight here.

Salted Caramel Stout

Bridge 99 Brewery released its latest beer, Salted Caramel Stout, at the beginning of the month. This confection-inspired pastry stout is the latest of several flavored stouts that Bridge 99 has been having fun with, according to owner Trever Hawman. It’s 6.5% alcohol by volume with 12 IBUs, and I purchased a crowler to enjoy at home.

It pours an opaque, inky black in the glass, topped by a creamy tan head of fine foam. The aroma is full of caramel and chocolate with an almost syrupy character. The caramel has a mellow burnt sugar note along with a bit of creaminess (reminding me of sweetened condensed milk) and a fudgy character.

The taste is sweet with burnt caramel and brown sugar flavors, followed by a dark roast that’s lightly charred and evokes diner drip coffee. There’s a creamy character to it along with a mildly roasted burnt note underlying that creaminess. It finishes sweet and nearly full-bodied with a slightly cloying sweetness.

Lava Lands Stout

Lava Lands is a traditional export stout from Sunriver Brewing Co., a limited-edition beer currently available in cans. Export stout as a style originated in England as a stronger ale brewed for the export market; it calls for a rich, roasty dry stout with a moderate strength. Sunriver’s version is 6.8% ABV with 40 IBUs.

In the glass, it’s thick and black, with a light brown foam that’s dense and lacy. It smells “dark” with lightly roasted malts, notes of caramel, bitter baking chocolate and a hint of licorice. There’s a bit of char and hard-toasted bread crust.

It’s a classic stout on the palate with a nice dry body from the roasted malts and rich flavors that range from burnt toast to dark roasted coffee beans to a touch of molasses-like sweetness. The medium-full-bodied mouthfeel offers up a smooth, dry finish.

Campfire Stout

Not to be outdone in the pastry stout department, Boss Rambler Beer Club released Camp S’mores, which the brewery dubbed a “campfire stout.”

Inspired by the classic campfire treat, it was brewed with cocoa nibs, marshmallows, and graham crackers and finished at 6.9% ABV.

The appearance reminds me of cola, a dark brown with a fizzy head that fell quickly but still had active carbonation. It smells like chocolate syrup and cocoa, with some toasty graham cracker notes and a hint of espresso.

It’s sweet and chocolatey, with a bit of a fudgy note and subtle dark malts (which remind me of malted milk balls candy). I’m not sure I can find the graham cracker in the flavor, but the marshmallow gives a cloying sweetness with a slick mouthfeel going into the finish. This is definitely a beer that leans into the s’mores experience.

These and many other stouts are available from most of the breweries here in Central Oregon. With a terrific variety to try, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy a few and celebrate Stout Month all month long.

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Onism Barrel-Aged Stout:

Immersion Brewing

West Coast IPA: Buoy Beer

Crooked Pilsner: Boneyard Beer

Dystopian Morning Light Imperial Stout: Fort George Brewery