Foreign Extra Stout

Historical Development

As we mentioned in our post on English IPA, it's a common misconception that the only reason English brewers created the IPA was to give casks of beer a better chance at making the months-long journey to India by elevating the alcohol and hop content. One of the reasons we're certain that this wasn't entirely the case is that we've got contemporaneous Indian newspapers with advertisements for a wide variety of beer styles, not just IPA. If they were brewed for the sole purpose of survival, why would brewers have also shipped casks of beer that would go bad before it reached its destination?

Ironically, the Foreign Extra Stout looks more like the story we all know about IPA. According to Guinness's own telling, their West Indies Porter–which they call "the mother of what we now know as foreign extra stout"–was first brewed in 1801 with more hops to survive a long sea journey in tropical climate. Given that the East India Company started trading what we now call IPA by the 1790s at the latest, it might be that porter brewers–Guinness among them–thought to hop their beers more heavily for the sea voyage. Given that demand in the Indian market drove IPA recipes–customers wrote letters giving feedback to English brewers–it's also likely that porter brewers recognized that hops were a hit in India, and made intelligent adjustments to market their products. Sometimes convenience–in this case making a beer that's more shelf-stable–and marketability do intersect, and the answer is likely somewhere in the gray area between those two.

Whatever the origin of this style, modern brewers in the UK recognize the differences in global beer tastes…specifically, that foreign drinkers often like bigger, bolder versions of the styles they brew. Guinness–one of the first to brew this style–is best known for their traditional Irish Dry Stout, but Foreign Extra Stout makes up around 40% of their annual sales. Because of its more significant roast and hop character, you might think of this style as the stout made in the UK that's most similar to the American version. Depending on the brewer, they can be difficult to tell apart, but American versions will usually have a cleaner yeast character, fuller body, and, of course, piney and citrusy hops.

Modern Evolution

Stronger stouts brewed for the export market today, but with a history stretching back to the 18th and 19th centuries when they were more heavily-hopped versions of stronger export stouts. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (originally West India Porter, later Foreign Extra Double Stout) was first brewed in 1801 according to Guinness with "extra hops to give it a distinctive taste and a longer shelf life in hot weather, this is brewed today in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. It currently makes up 40% of all the Guinness brewed around the world."