Oyster Stout

We love things that snuggle up and pair beautifully. Champagne and caviar. Eggs and bacon. Cheese and, well, everything. But a rich, creamy stout didn't naturally come to mind as a match to delicate briny oysters. Boy, were we mistaken.

"It's a less understood classic combination, and it's really fantastic," says renowned bar manager Jackson Cannon of Eastern Standard in Boston which will be serving the beer. In fact, the two go together so well, Boston-based Harpoon Brewery has teamed-up with local oyster grower, Skip Bennett, and is launching Island Creek Oyster Stout as part of their 100-Barrel Series in early February.

You heard that right -- brewer Katie Tame is slipping 180 oyster bodies into the kettle during the brewing process, which is expected to give the beer an enriched mouth feel, better head retention and a hint of minerality. It's not something Tame invented though. "Around the early 1700s, oysters and stouts were inexpensive and commonly paired together. By the early 20th century, they started putting oysters into the brewing process," she says.
Boston's not the only place to brew up this combination. Oyster stouts are being crafted around the country -- including Bayshore Oyster Stout from Flying Fish Brewing Company in New Jersey, complete with its own documentary. Moonstone Oyster Stout crosses state borders using Rhode Island-grown oysters although it's made in Asheville, NC. On the other hand, the brewmasters at 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco craft Point Oyster Stout with locally-grown Hog Island Oysters. But not all oyster stouts have actual oysters in the recipe. Some, like the U.K.-based Marston's Oyster Stout, are simply meant to be paired with those briny beauties.