The Origins Of Oyster Beer Are Shrouded In Mystery
If you've ever eaten oysters, then you know just how unique these decadent bivalves are, no matter how you choose to serve them. Their briny, umami-rich flavor combined with the tactile process of expertly shucking and subsequently topping them makes oysters an unforgettable dish.
Oyster stouts, are a niche but not unheard-of type of beer that has roots in England. There's a tradition of serving oysters with stouts or other dark beers, and it seems that this custom eventually melded the mollusks together with their brewed counterpart. Some breweries began producing oyster stouts, or, stouts that used oyster shells as a clarifying ingredient during the brewing process. This eventually led to the whole oyster being used, with the first solid evidence of this being in the 1920s. So even if it's not the right season for fresh oysters, you can still enjoy them in an interesting, albeit wildly different medium.
What are oyster stouts like?
While it may seem pretty jarring initially to think of the idea of tossing whole oysters into a bubbling, brewing beer, the idea isn't so far-fetched in practice. Those shells can actually serve the kind of role that certain wood chips have in making beer: Namely, they are wonderful at clarifying it. The shell on its own can contribute somewhat to the stout's flavor, but it's when you add the whole oyster that things get interesting.
Oyster stouts are made the same way as their more traditional cousins. The largest difference is in their flavor. On the whole, they are deemed (perhaps unsurprisingly) to take on a briny, ocean-rich flavor, alongside an umami note that gives the stout extra robustness. It's no shocker that these are similar notes to what are found in Osteitra, a vodka distilled with oysters and yet another example of a combination that makes perfect sense after a moment of reflection. In fact, the question that might log more time in your brain is which scrumptious food you should serve alongside your unique stout.