And it’s too bad, because I usually really like The Economist. They’ve published an article this week titled “Coming to a head: Mathematicians invent a new way to pour stout.” It’s mostly a useless article about how a scientist claims that Guiness wouldn’t need to add those little nitrogen gas spheres to their beer bottles if the bottles were lined with — wait for it — coffee filters. I won’t even comment on why someone thought this might be interesting and relevant news. But the worst part is what the article gets wrong:
ON MARCH 17th, St Patrick’s day, countless pints of Irish stout will be poured in pubs and homes around the world. As they sup their beer, revellers might do well to give a nod to the technology that makes possible the creamy head which sits atop it—for unlike the natural head on an ale or a lager, the head on stout is a work of art.
First mistake. A stout is a type of ale. With a few very uncommon exceptions, all beer is either lager or ale. This distinction is determined by whether lager yeast or ale yeast is used to ferment the beer. Within each yeast variety, there are many beer styles (and even many different strains of lager and ale yeasts). Pilsner and Bock are types of lagers. IPAs, Belgians, hefeweizens, porters, and — stouts — are all types of ale. Here’s a fairly comprehensive guide to beer styles.
The article continues:
Most beers are pressurised with carbon dioxide. Stouts, though, use a mixture of that gas and four times its volume of nitrogen. This makes the beer less acidic, and also produces smaller, creamier bubbles.
Again, the way stouts are characterized here is just plain wrong. Most stouts are pressurized the old fashioned way, with carbon dioxide. Examples include Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, Sierra Nevada’s Stout, Left Hand’s Milk Stout, and Harpoon’s Chocolate Stout. None of these have nitrogen. And they’re all ales. But I’ve already said that.
The most notable exception is Guinness, which happens to be the most popular and well known stout. Guinness does in fact use nitrogen to pressurize the beer, but so do other non-stout, non-dark beers. Such as Boddington’s Pub Ale.
Stouts have a lot of history and represent a diverse family of great beers. Not all stouts are Guinness. Come on Economist. You can do better!