Mixers

Irish Stout

Irish stout is a dry, near-black beer made with roasted barley for a coffee-like bitterness and a dry finish; draught Irish stout is about 4.2% ABV. It is beer, so it contains gluten and makes any drink alcoholic. In our Stout Float it is the bitter half against vanilla ice cream.

Quick Facts

ABV4.2% ABVGuinness gives 4.2% for Guinness Draught; other dry stouts, and export and extra stouts, vary.

Legal categoryBeer

OriginIreland

Flavour Strengthmedium bold

Our keeping timeOpened: pour it now.

Storage

Cans and bottles cool and dark: chill before serving, and pour the whole measure once opened.

Allergens

Contains: cereals containing gluten. Brewed from barley: check the can.

The ingredient

About Irish Stout

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Roasted BarleyCoffeeDark Chocolate

Tasting Notes

Dry roast and coffee bitterness under a cream-smooth nitrogen head: black in the glass, lighter in body than it looks.

Roasted barley makes it black and dry

Irish stout is brewed mainly from malted barley, with a share of barley roasted dark, much as coffee beans are. That roasted grain gives the near-black colour and the coffee-and-cocoa bitterness, and the beer finishes dry rather than sweet. For all its colour, draught Irish stout is a fairly modest 4.2%. Sweet and milk stouts keep more sugar or add lactose, and the table shows how each style behaves in a float.

Nitrogen gives the creamy head

Draught stout carries nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide. Nitrogen barely dissolves in beer and forms very small bubbles, so the head forms dense and settles slowly. Guinness first brewed its draught stout in 1959 and still pours it in two stages, letting the surge settle before the top-up.

The roast balances the ice cream

In our Stout Float 250ml of stout settles before vanilla ice cream is eased in, with 15ml of Irish cream as an option. The ice cream brings sugar and fat; the stout brings bitterness, so a dry stout balances it and a sweet one leaves it cloying. It is an alcoholic drink, about 1.3 UK units once the cream goes in.

Stouts in a Stout Float

Dry Irish stout

Sweetness: Dry
Body: Light for its colour
In a Stout Float: What our recipe uses, at 4.2%

Porter

Sweetness: Dry to slightly sweet
Body: Light to medium
In a Stout Float: Works, with a softer roast

Oatmeal stout

Sweetness: Off-dry
Body: Smooth and fuller
In a Stout Float: Works, a little richer

Milk stout

Sweetness: Sweet; usually brewed with lactose, from milk
Body: Fuller
In a Stout Float: Too sweet beside ice cream

Imperial stout

Sweetness: Often sweet
Body: Heavy
In a Stout Float: Much stronger; check the label

Style	Sweetness	Body	In a Stout Float
Dry Irish stout	Dry	Light for its colour	What our recipe uses, at 4.2%
Porter	Dry to slightly sweet	Light to medium	Works, with a softer roast
Oatmeal stout	Off-dry	Smooth and fuller	Works, a little richer
Milk stout	Sweet; usually brewed with lactose, from milk	Fuller	Too sweet beside ice cream
Imperial stout	Often sweet	Heavy	Much stronger; check the label

Using it

Using Irish Stout

Usage

The Stout Float starts with 250ml of dry Irish stout in a tall glass; once the head has settled, vanilla ice cream goes in gently, and a little Irish cream on top is optional. Leave sweet and milk stouts out, since the drink depends on bitterness.

Pro Tip

Pour the stout down the side of a tilted glass, about three quarters full, and let it settle before adding the ice cream. Guinness pours its draught in the same two stages, and the settled head gives the ice cream something to sit in.

Top Tips

Chill the stout well before a float; warm beer melts the ice cream into foam before you have a spoon in it.
Leave room under the rim. The ice cream raises the level and the head together.
Lower the ice cream in on a spoon rather than dropping it, which throws up a surge of foam.
Use the whole can once it is open; stout does not keep.

Production Method

Malted barley, unmalted barley and roasted barley mashed, hopped and fermented; the roasted grain gives the near-black colour and dry, coffee-like bitterness. Draught versions carry nitrogen, whose small bubbles build the dense, creamy head.

History & Context

Guinness dates its beginning to 1759, when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin. Its draught stout came two centuries later: the company says Guinness Draught was first brewed in 1959, for the bicentenary.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is Irish stout?

A dark, dry beer made with roasted barley, which gives a near-black colour, a coffee-and-cocoa bitterness and a dry finish. For Guinness Draught the brewer lists water, malted barley, barley, roasted barley, hops, nitrogen and yeast. Some stouts are sweet; the Irish style is the dry one.

Is Irish stout alcoholic?

Yes. Draught Irish stout is about 4.2% ABV, the figure Guinness gives for Guinness Draught and the one our recipes use. That is easy to overlook in a glass with ice cream in it: the 250ml in a Stout Float comes to about 1.1 UK units, and the optional Irish cream adds a little more.

Does stout contain gluten?

Yes. Barley goes into it in three forms, malted, plain and roasted, and Coeliac UK puts stout, like all beer and lager, among the drinks to avoid on a gluten-free diet. A few gluten-free stouts are made; any barley stout with the gluten taken out still has to declare barley.

Why does draught stout have a creamy head?

Nitrogen. Draught stout carries nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide, and nitrogen barely dissolves in beer, so it forms very small bubbles that build a dense, creamy head and settle slowly. Guinness pours its draught in two stages: three quarters full at an angle, a pause to settle, then a top-up.

Can I use a different stout in a Stout Float?

A dry one, yes: any dry Irish-style stout works the same way. Milk and sweet stouts make the float cloying, because the ice cream supplies the sugar, and the float needs the roast's bitterness to answer it. A strong imperial stout changes the strength, so check its label first.

How long does stout keep once opened?

It does not: use the whole can or bottle once it is open. The gas goes soon after pouring, and a flat stout gives a float no lift and no head for the ice cream to sit in. Keep sealed cans cool and dark, and drink them by the date on the can.

What drinks use Irish stout?

Just one of ours, the Stout Float. A tall glass takes 250ml of dry Irish stout, then vanilla ice cream, eased in once the head has settled, then 15ml of Irish cream if you want it richer. The stout's roast and bitterness are what stop the glass tasting like a milkshake.

Make something

Made with Irish Stout

Featured In These Cocktails

Stout Float

Often Used With

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 11 October 2026

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