https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog Fri, 24 April 2026 07:36:41 Fri, 24 April 2026 07:36:41 Why does the same drink sometimes taste completely different from one day to the next?  It might seem like the wine, beer or spirit has changed but more often, it’s your senses. Subtle shifts in your palate, your environment or even your level of hydration can affect how clearly you perceive aromas, flavours and texture.  Tasting is central to any WSET qualification, but it’s also a skill that improves with awareness and preparation. By creating the right conditions for your senses, you give yourself the best chance of experiencing a drink as it truly is.  Here’s how to prepare your palate for more accurate, confident tasting.    Key considerations for preparing your palate  Ensure you have a clean, neutral palate  Before tasting, your palate should be as neutral as possible. Strong or lingering flavours can mask more delicate characteristics and distort balance.  Before tasting, you should avoid:  strongly flavoured foods  toothpaste or mouthwash  coffee, cigarettes or chewing gum  In short, if it sticks around, it’s not helping.  If needed, a small piece of plain bread can help remove lingering flavours. The goal isn’t to eliminate sensation entirely, but to avoid competing flavours that distract from the drink itself.  This is especially important when tasting subtle styles - such as lighter wines, delicate sakes or elegant spirits - where nuance matters.  You should also have a spittoon at the ready. Tasting five wines is very different from drinking five wines and alcohol itself can quickly start to alter your perception.    Ensure you remain hydrated  Did you know that hydration has a direct impact on your senses, particularly smell?  When you’re dehydrated, your nasal aroma receptors can become dry and less sensitive, making it harder to detect aromas and flavours. So it’s key to stay hydrated before and during, with sips of water throughout your tasting session.  During tastings, dehydration can happen quickly - especially when spitting, as you will be losing saliva each time. It adds up more than you might expect.  Alcohol itself is also dehydrating. When tasting spirits and sake in particular, alcohol vapours can further dry the nose, gradually reducing your ability to perceive aroma over time.    Remove all strong smells  When tasting your space should be free of strong odours like cleaning products, air fresheners, food or tobacco as these can impact your ability to accurately identify aromas and flavours.  It’s not just the room, either. Strongly scented products like perfume or aftershave can follow you into the glass and compete with what you’re trying to assess.  In short, if you can smell it before you start, it’s likely to get in the way once you do.      How your senses shape what you taste  When we talk about “palate”, we’re really talking about several senses working together. Understanding their roles helps you interpret what you’re experiencing more clearly.    Sight: useful, but potentially misleading  Sight is the least helpful sense when tasting many alcoholic drinks - particularly spirits - but it still plays a role.   We naturally rely on visual cues, and the brain quickly forms expectations based on colour and appearance. A deeper colour might suggest richness or sweetness, while a pale tone might signal something lighter or fresher. These assumptions can subtly shape how we perceive aroma, taste and texture before we’ve even taken a sip.    Smell: aroma and flavour  Smell is the most important sense in tasting.  Aroma refers to sensations detected when you sniff the glass.  Flavour refers to sensations detected by smell when the drink is in your mouth.  In both cases, these sensations are caused by aroma compounds detected by receptors in the nasal cavity. The tongue cannot detect aromas or flavours.  This is why taking time to smell before tasting is so important, and why a drink can seem muted if your nose is congested, fatigued or simply not fully engaged.    Taste: the role of the tongue in tasting  The tongue is responsible for identifying five tastes only:  sweet  bitter  sour (acid)  salt  umami  Taste doesn’t actually tell you what a drink tastes like - only these basic taste components. Which is why we combine so many senses when tasting!    Touch: texture and mouthfeel  Touch is an often overlooked but crucial part of tasting. It includes sensations such as:  heat or burn  weight and body  smoothness, sharpness or mouthcoating texture  These tactile sensations all contribute to how wines, beers, spirits and sakes feel on the palate. No tasting note is complete without considering texture.    Putting all the senses together  In practice, when a drink is in your mouth, you don’t experience taste, smell and touch separately. Your brain combines them into a single overall impression.  Early on, this impression may feel vague - “it just tastes like wine” or “it smells like whisky”. Structured tasting is about slowing this moment down and learning to unpick it. With time and practice, you become better at separating aroma from taste, flavour from texture, and intensity from balance.  Individual sensitivities vary, and personal experience always plays a role. Even so, trained tasters can agree with a high degree of consistency on characteristics such as sweetness, texture or length of finish - a skill that develops through repetition and calibration.    The human factor when tasting  There are some human factors that will impact your ability to taste, which include:  fatigue  colds, congestion or hay fever  stress or lack of focus    It’s worth identifying these factors and taking this into consideration if you’re doing a tasting - your senses may end up playing tricks on you.  Preparing your palate is about giving your senses the support they need to do their job.  A clean mouth, good hydration and a considered approach to tasting allow you to experience drinks more clearly and accurately. When you understand how sight, smell, taste and touch work together, tasting becomes less about guesswork and more about confident, informed observation.     Additional reading: How to train your palate How to pair drinks with spice Strawberry, pepper and petrol: why wine smells the way it does   https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/how-to-prepare-your-palate-for-tasting https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/how-to-prepare-your-palate-for-tasting Fri, 24 April 2026 07:36:41 What happens when a drink rooted in tradition meets the creativity of modern mixology? London-based writer and anthropologist Joel Hart explores how sake is being reimagined in cocktails, and why its balance of umami, texture and aroma makes it such a compelling ingredient behind the bar.    Once scarce in the UK - and when it did appear, often served hot enough to mask a low-grade profile - sake now occupies a very different space. The Japanese fermented rice beverage is more often associated with high-end settings: a life-changing pairing in an omakase, or the offbeat, quietly confident choice within a wine flight at one of the world's best restaurants.   But what about cocktails - should mixing high-quality sake with other components be seen as sacrilegious, or might it occupy an important space in the UK's increasing sakemania?  Once scarce in the UK – and when it did appear, often served piping hot to disguise poor quality – sake now occupies a very different space. The Japanese fermented rice beverage is increasingly associated with high-end settings: a life-changing pairing in an omakase, or the quietly confident choice within a wine flight at one of the world’s best restaurants.  But what about cocktails? As bartenders explore how to use sake in cocktails, should mixing high-quality sake with other components be seen as sacrilegious, or might it occupy an important space in the UK’s increasing sakemania?    Why use sake in cocktails?  With dozens of sake-based cocktails listed on Difford’s Guide, from sake sours to martinis and negronis, bartenders are clearly beginning to favour it.  For sake samurai Natsuki Kikuya of the Museum of Sake, this is to be welcomed with caution.  “I’ve always believed that sake is complete in itself,” she says. “It doesn’t need to be mixed. However, I don’t see cocktails as a compromise. Rather, I see them as a different lens through which sake can be experienced.”  For Natsuki, sake’s unique structure of umami, softness and relatively low acidity, alongside its distinctive aromatic range, offers a clear point of distinction for mixologists. All of this, she says, “allows it to integrate beautifully with other ingredients. When used with care and intention – not to mask but to build on its character – it can bring a distinctive dimension to a cocktail.”  It also fits neatly into current shifts in drinking habits. As Josh Black, on-trade specialist at DREAMSAKE, explains, “because it is lower in alcohol, it can be a great solution for designing lower-ABV serves for modern drinking trends and guests who are looking for more conscious drinking alternatives.”    Choosing the right sake for cocktails  The key to mixing with sake lies in understanding its diversity as a category. From light, delicate daiginjo styles to full-bodied, umami-rich junmai, each brings a different set of characteristics to the glass – and to the shaker. Rather than forcing a sake to fit a recipe, the better approach is to let its natural profile guide the drink.  Sparkling sakes can replace sparkling wines in interesting ways, from a Sbagliato-style serve to a lighter, more delicate spritz. Daiginjo, typically highly polished and known for its clean, aromatic profile, tends towards notes of melon, pear and white flowers, with a gentle lift of acidity. This makes it particularly well suited to fresher, more delicate cocktails where those top notes can shine, such as a refined highball or a sake-led take on a French 75.  Junmai, by contrast, retains more of the rice’s natural character and is typically fuller in body, with a more savoury, umami-forward profile. These styles lend themselves to richer, shorter builds and can hold their own in more spirit-forward formats, such as an Old Fashioned or Manhattan-style serve.  As Anthony Yukio, Head Sommelier at Kioku by Endo in London, notes, the breadth of sake means that “most of the time it is a case of finding the right sake to fit the profile rather than forcing it to work. There is the famous phrase in Japan: ‘sake doesn’t fight with food’ – and I think that applies for cocktails too.”    Best sake cocktails and how to adapt classic recipes  The most intuitive starting point is rethinking familiar formats.  A Martini made with a split base of gin and daiginjo retains the drink’s elegance while introducing a softer, more umami-laced finish. A sake Negroni, where sake replaces part or all of the gin, stirred with dry vermouth and a Campari-style bitter, pulls the drink into something rounder and more restrained, the sake's umami (glutamates have been shown to suppress bitter perception) quietly moderating the bitterness.   A sake sour, built with daiginjo, fresh lime and lemon, a touch of cane sugar syrup and egg white, makes for a lighter, fresher take on the classic - the style’s natural elegance and mouthfeel doing the heavy lifting in place of a higher-ABV base.  Photo: DREAMSAKE®   Flavour pairings: tea, fruit and umami-led combinations  Tea is a particularly intuitive pairing. Both tea and sake span a spectrum from bright and fresh to deep and earthy, and their shared umami character tends to complement rather than compete. An oolong and daiginjo highball can be clean and refreshing with a lightly smoky edge, while combining rooibos or lapsang souchong with junmai in a shorter serve finds common ground in richer, deeper notes.   Sake’s affinity with fruit also offers scope for experimentation. Stone fruits such as peach, plum and apricot mirror the esters found in many ginjo-style sakes, making them natural companions. A daiginjo paired with fino sherry and a peach aperitif offers a bamboo-style twist with more aromatic lift. More adventurous combinations, such as a highball with fig leaf tincture, aged sake and whisky, can come surprisingly close to the essence of a classic highball while still offering something new. As Yukio puts it, these drinks sit “close to the essence of a simple highball… whilst at the same time being something new and innovative.”    Sake cocktails as a gateway to the category  Whether transforming classics, exploring inventive tea-led serves or experimenting with fruit, these examples demonstrate how sake’s acid–umami balance, supple mouthfeel and aromatic complexity can move beyond the glass and into creative mixology.  The trick is to work with a sake’s natural profile rather than against it, paying attention to its sweetness, structure and aromatic character, and using these as a foundation rather than something to disguise.  “For many consumers, especially outside Japan, it can feel unfamiliar or even intimidating,” Kikuya notes. “Cocktails can act as an accessible entry point.”      Additional reading: What is sake? A beginner's guide How does sake get its flavour? Different types of sake explored   About the author: Joel Hart is a London-based writer, anthropologist and culture journalist focusing mainly on restaurants, wine and artisanal drinks. His work has appeared in publications including the Financial Times, New York Times, The Telegraph, The Times, Broadsheet, Vittles, Time Out and Pellicle.  https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/how-to-use-sake-in-cocktails-styles-tips-and-recipe-ideas https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/how-to-use-sake-in-cocktails-styles-tips-and-recipe-ideas Thu, 23 April 2026 09:35:33 In this article, beer educator Natalya Watson explores one of the most talked-about techniques in modern brewing: dry hopping. From the science behind hop additions to the impact on aroma, flavour and appearance, this guide will deepen your understanding of how brewers shape some of today’s most expressive beer styles.    Beer labels are full of buzz words... we recently published a blog post exploring the many different types of hop-driven styles from APA, to IPA, to NEIPA and beyond. But the acronyms don’t stop there!   These beers can often have some additional letters on their labels, like DDH, which isn’t necessarily part of the style name, but indicates a particular production choice by the brewer.  That choice? Dry hopping, or “double dry hopping” as the extra D suggests. What is dry hopping and how might it impact the finished beer? Let’s take a step back and talk about hops first.    What are hops?  Hops are tall climbing plants that produce cones as they grow. The cones of the hop plant are harvested annually each autumn, and are used to bring both a bitter taste and a wide range of aromas to beer. Which one we get, though, will depend on when those hop cones are added to the beer. Hops can be used as pellets or in their original cone form   Hop additions for bitterness  Hops are typically added to the boiling stage of the brewing process.  Boiling is a key step in the process because it helps to kill off any microorganisms that may have come into the brew from our raw materials or brewing equipment and it means that when we get to the fermentation stage a bit later, we can be sure that only the yeast we’ve added is busy at work (and we won’t get any unexpected, or off-flavours).  This step is also crucial for helping us to extract the bitterness from our hops. Why? The bittering components within the hops cones, called alpha acids, aren’t very soluble in water. But, with heat and time (boiling typically lasts 60-90 minutes), we’re able to convert those alpha acids to iso-alpha acids, meaning they can dissolve and impart their bitterness. So, adding hops at the beginning of the boil brings more bitterness to the finished beer.     Hop additions for aroma – on the hot-side  By contrast though, a long, rolling boil isn’t as helpful for the aromatic compounds from the hops’ essential oils, as they’re very delicate, or volatile, and essentially boil off during this stage. Therefoe, in order for the essential oils to have their aroma impact, we add hops again at the end of the boil to keep their aromas in, as well.  The end of the boil isn’t the only time we can add hops for aroma though. We can also add hops to a piece of equipment called the whirlpool, which is used the improve the clarity of the beer after the boil. Although no further heat is being applied in this step, the liquid is still very warm, so bitterness will build a bit, but the primary focus is on aroma.    Hop additions for aroma – on the cold-side  But we can also add hops even later - during or after fermentation - and it’s this process that we call dry-hopping.  I hear you wondering, why is it called dry hopping? Truth is, I’m not too sure. I’ve done some research and haven’t been able to find a conclusive explanation. But what’s more important for our purposes is the impact on the finished beer. So, how does it work?  Unlike boiling, which is conducted at very high temperatures, fermentation is conducted at much cooler temperatures – typically 18–24°C (64–75°F) for ale yeast – so we don’t have the heat required for the bittering isomerisation process to occur. As a result, dry-hopping is specifically focused on amping up aroma, as the essential oils don’t evaporate off.    The impacts of dry hopping   What kind of aromas should we expect? Hops can contribute a wide array of fruity, herbal and spicy notes, but most dry hopping uses American, Australian or New Zealand varietals, which can bring prominent citrus fruit, stone fruit, and tropical fruit character to the beers that use them… like our hop-driven American pale ales, IPAs and hazy IPAs.  Dry hopping doesn’t only impact a beers aroma though – it can also impact the appearance, adding haze. So, as the name suggests, a hazy IPA is one that has been heavily dry-hopped. (It’s also hazy from the inclusion of higher-protein grains like wheat or oats and the fact that brewers don’t filter the finished beer.)   Bonus points: biotransformation  When hops are added during fermentation, there’s another key beer ingredient still present – yeast. And these two ingredients can interact in a pretty interesting way. Through a process called biotransformation, yeast can essentially unlock new aromas from the hop compounds that weren’t present in the first place.  The processes are quite complex and technical so we won’t go into further detail here. But essentially this means there’s potential to get more hop aroma from less hop use – and with how expensive hops can be, you can imagine there’s a lot of exciting new research happening here, so watch this space!     The history of dry hopping  Given its use in many popular modern beer styles, it may lead you to think that dry hopping is a new technique, but it’s actually been around for centuries!   It’s thought that brewers in England – where the pale ale and IPA styles originated – had been adding hops into casks of beer since the 18th century. They weren’t quite using this technique for the same reasons we do today, though.   While we now use hops primarily for their bitterness and interesting aromas, in the past they were used for another reason – hops also contain antibacterial properties, so they were added to beer to slowing down its spoilage, effectively preserving it for longer.  These beers would have also had quite different aromas from our modern pale ales and IPAs, as English brewers would have been using traditional British hops, which are a lot more subtle than American, Australian and New Zealand varietals and bring notes of black tea, black current and earth.    Why do brewers dry hop?  The reason the dry hopping process is so popular today is for the massive aroma hit. But that can only be enjoyed when dry-hopped beers have been stored carefully (ideally refrigerated) and consumed as fresh as possible.  Curious to experience the impact? Look out for a dry-hopped or double dry-hopped, DDH, beer near you and give it a go!  As a note, there are some newer beer styles – like the Italian Pilsner – that use traditional European hops for dry hoping, adding punched up spicy, floral and herbal notes through this approach. Have fun tasting!    Lastly, what about wet hopping?  This is a different technique that’s not due to the timing of hop additions during the brewing process, but the timing of hop use relative to harvest. Most hops are harvested in autumn and dried so that they can be stored and used throughout the year.   But, during harvest season, some brewers experiment with using freshly picked, wet, whole cone hops straight from the harvest.  The aroma impact certainly isn’t as intense as that brought about by dry hopping, but it’s a fun once-a-year opportunity for brewers to understand how hop aromas might express differently depending on how those hops have been processed and when they’ve been added to the brew.  And if they’re added to the cold side, guess what that’s called? “Wet dry hopping”. Yes, the beer world is always evolving!      About the author This blog post was written by Natalya Watson, Business Development Manager for beer in EMEA at WSET. Natalya is an award-winning beer educator with a passion for helping people explore and understand beer with confidence. She holds the IBD Beer Sommelier and Advanced Cicerone® certifications and is a WSET beer educator. She is also the author of Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles. Follow Nat on Instagram.  https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/what-is-dry-hopping https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/what-is-dry-hopping Wed, 22 April 2026 09:25:55 Every successful band has an unsung hero. These artists rarely seize the limelight, but they’re always working hard behind the scenes, and they’re instrumental to the band’s sound.  Examples include Rolling Stones co-founder Ian Stewart, Pink Floyd guitarist Richard Wright and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. They never received the public acclaim given to the likes of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but they’re the glue that held their bands together.  Acidity plays a similar role in wine. The other key characteristics - alcohol, body, sweetness and tannin - get all the attention, whereas acidity rarely enjoys the credit it deserves. Its work is more subtle, but it’s just as important in shaping how a wine feels, tastes and ages.  Many people overlook acidity, and others misunderstand it, confusing it with bitterness or high levels of alcohol. Truly understanding acidity in wine will make you a better taster, so we’ve explained how it works and why it matters.    Why acidity matters in wine  Acidity balances the flavours in wine, and it ensures that no single component overwhelms your palate. It also provides a refreshing mouthfeel, which stops wine from tasting flat or flabby. Acids act as natural preservatives too, allowing fine wines to age beautifully for a decade or more.  Have you ever squeezed a wedge of lemon onto a piece of grilled fish? The impact is drastic: it sharpens the flavours, cuts through the oil, tenderises the meat and ultimately lifts the dish.  Acidity plays a similar role in wine. It’s what gives a wine its freshness and definition, that quality that makes you want to go back for another sip. When it’s too low, a wine becomes soft and shapeless.  Acidity plays an important role in every style. In sweet wines, acidity is the counterweight that stops sugar from becoming cloying. In sparkling wines, it’s the taut backbone behind those fine bubbles. If you’re tasting a red wine that’s matured gracefully for decades, acidity allowed it to retain its freshness long after the fruit had softened.    How to assess wine acidity  All wines contain tartaric acids from the grape juice. All reds and many whites also feature lactic acid, which is converted from malic acid.   These acids are odourless, so how do you assess acidity in wine?    Here’s the good news: you don’t need any special equipment. Acidity is assessed on the palate, and your mouth does the job remarkably well.  Take a sip and pay attention to what happens next. For most people, acidity creates a sharp, tingling sensation, which is detected most strongly at the sides of the tongue.  However, the real giveaway is in your saliva. The more your mouth waters, and the longer it waters, the higher the level of acidity in the wine.  If there’s little salivation and the wine feels soft and rounded, it’s likely that you’re tasting a wine with low acidity. By contrast, if your mouth starts to water quickly, and the effect lingers, you’re tasting a wine with higher acidity. That’s your mouth trying to restore its natural balance.  Here’s a practical tip: make sure you’ve drunk plenty of water before tasting. If you’re dehydrated, your salivation response will be suppressed, and you may then underestimate acidity.    Which taste and contextual clues can indicate higher acidity?  Certain flavours are often associated with higher levels of acidity. They serve as useful clues when you’re trying to work out a wine’s acid profile.  If you’re picking up notes of lemon, lime, grapefruit or green apple when tasting a white wine, it’s likely to have a strong acidic backbone. Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Albariño often have high acidity. Meanwhile, Viognier and Gewürztraminer are often softer and more voluptuous.  When it comes to red wines, notes of bright red fruit like cherries and cranberries can indicate higher acidity. Varieties like cool-climate Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Gamay often benefit from high levels of acidity.  Context matters too. Wines from cooler climates tend to retain more of their natural acidity, as the grapes ripen more slowly in those regions. Chablis and the Mosel are classic examples. Both regions are renowned for yielding wines with pronounced acidity and freshness.  Warmer climates often produce wines with lower levels of acidity, but high altitude and cool night temperatures can preserve their freshness.    What affects acidity in wine?  Climate is the single biggest influence on a wine’s acidity. Wines tend to hold onto more of their tartaric and malic acid when they come from cooler regions.  As temperatures rise during the ripening period, the vine metabolises the malic acid. This can cause warmer regions to produce wines with lower acidity. The same is true of warmer vintages. It’s also worth noting that grapes picked earlier in the season should retain more acid, whereas those left on the vine for longer will retain less.  Winemakers also play a key role in shaping acidity. They can use malolactic fermentation to convert sharper malic acid into softer lactic acid. This creates a rounder, creamier wine. It often comes down to house style. If producers want to create fresh wines, they block malolactic fermentation to retain that bright acidity.  Producers can also adjust the acidity. In warmer regions, they may add tartaric acid in powder form if the grape acid fell too far during ripening. Meanwhile, winemakers in cooler regions can add an alkaline substance to neutralise excess acid if the levels didn’t fall sufficiently during the ripening period.    Factors that can mask or alter perceived acidity  Acidity doesn’t always make a grand entrance onto the stage, and it can be overshadowed by the other ‘band members’. The most common culprit is sweetness.  A wine with high residual sugar can taste balanced and poised even when its acidity is very high. Think of a well-made Sauternes, which is searingly acidic, but comes across as luscious rather than sharp. That’s because the sugar and acid are working in harmony together. Taste a bone-dry Chablis with a comparable acid level and the acidity will feel far more prominent, simply because there’s nothing to temper it.  This is precisely where the aforementioned salivation test earns its stripes. Regardless of how sweet a wine is, acidity will still make your mouth water. That response doesn’t lie.  Alcohol can also impact your perception of a wine’s acidity. Some high alcohol wines can create a burning warmth, which may feel a little like acidity. The distinction? Alcohol produces heat, whereas acidity produces salivation, so focus on which one you’re experiencing.  The wine’s serving temperature also matters. If you’re presented with a wine that’s too warm, it can seem flat and lacking in freshness. If the bottle is chilled a little, it can display its acidity with far greater clarity.    Acidity in practice  Let’s say you taste a cool-climate Chablis alongside a warm-climate, oak-aged Chardonnay. The Chablis should show pronounced acidity, with bright citrus flavours and a long, mouth-watering finish. The oak-aged Chardonnay, which has been shaped by malolactic fermentation and time in the barrel, should feel rounder, softer, more buttery and gentler on the palate. It’s the same grape, but a completely different experience, and that’s largely down to acidity.  German Riesling takes the lesson further. If you sip a bone-dry Trocken Riesling from the Mosel, you’re likely to experience bracing acidity, which can be exhilarating. Meanwhile, a sweeter Spätlese from the same region could have a similar level of acidity, but the residual sugar will completely change your perception of it, as it provides a delicate balance of richness and freshness.    The bigger picture  Acidity may not always be the most obvious characteristic you notice when tasting wine, but it’s one of the most important. It will shape the balance and freshness of the wine, and it will play a major role in helping the wine pair with foods.  The good news is that assessing acidity in wine is more straightforward than you might think. Make sure you’re well-hydrated, sip the wine, and consider how much your mouth waters and for how long. Focus on what can influence acidity and what can mask it, and you’ll soon be able to quickly detect a wine’s acidity levels.      About the author Martin Green is an experienced writer who has covered the wine trade since 2012. He was previously the editor of Drinks International and Drinks Retailing, and he also writes regular articles for Decanter. https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/understanding-acidity-in-wine https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/understanding-acidity-in-wine Mon, 20 April 2026 07:34:51 Not all stouts are created equal.  While they share their dark colour and roasted flavours, the difference between an Irish stout and an imperial stout can be striking - from lower-alcohol, more balanced styles to richer, fuller-bodied and more intense, warming expressions.  In its basic form, a stout beer is a type of ale that is dark brown to black in colour, brewed with dark roasted malts or grains, giving aromas such as coffee, chocolate or burnt bread. Stouts sit close to porters in terms of their style.  In this article, we explore the main stout styles, with a closer look at Irish stout and imperial stout, and how they compare. We’ll also touch on porter, a closely related style, to help place stout in its wider family.    Types of stout explained    Irish stout  As the name implies, Irish stout is originally from Ireland and is famously brewed in Dublin, where carbonate-rich water is well suited to brewing with dark roasted malts and grains.  Irish stout is brown to black in colour, clear or opaque and offers burnt and roasted aromas such as coffee, cocoa, dark chocolate or burnt bread from the use of dark roasted malt or, often, roasted barley.  There is sometimes subtle fruity character from yeast, and subtle floral hop-derived aromas. The level of hop bitterness varies and is accentuated by the bitterness from roasted grains giving medium to high bitterness overall.   Irish stout typically has low to medium alcohol. It is often nitrogenated, giving a notable creamy foam when the beer is poured.    Imperial stout  Imperial stout (sometimes called Russian imperial stout) is typically black in colour and opaque.   Compared to Irish stout, imperial stout is fuller-bodied, higher in alcohol and more intense in both aroma and flavour. It typically has high to very high alcohol (often exceeding 8%), which can give a warming sensation.  It is full-bodied with medium to high bitterness, low to medium sweetness and pronounced aroma intensity. It also typically has low to medium carbonation.  As would be expected from this style, it has dark roasted malt aromas such as coffee or dark chocolate. Caramel malt is sometimes used to add notes such as caramel or dried fruit. When aged, this style can develop port-like notes.  British-style imperial stout can have subtle herbal, earthy or fruity notes from traditional British hops, while American-style imperial stout tends to have citrus, stone, tropical fruit, pine or resin notes from American hops, and can have more prominent dark roasted malt notes such as burnt bread.  In simple terms, Irish stout is typically lighter, drier and more sessionable, while imperial stout is stronger, fuller and more intense.       Other stouts  Oatmeal stout  As the name suggests, these stouts are brewed with a proportion of oats in the grist (the mix of grains used in brewing). The inclusion of oats contributes to body, giving these beers a medium to full body and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.  American stout   American stout typically combines the roasted flavours of dark malts with more expressive hop character. This can bring aromas such as citrus, stone or tropical fruit, along with pine or resin notes from American hop varieties.  Sweet stout  Historically called milk stout, this style includes lactose, an unfermentable milk sugar, added to the wort (the liquid extracted from the grains during brewing). Because yeast cannot ferment lactose, it remains in the final beer, giving a noticeable sweetness, typically medium to high.    There are also a number of more modern stout styles that have become increasingly popular, including coffee stout, pastry stout and oyster stout, each adding additional ingredients or flavours to build on the base style.    A touch on porter  To fully understand stout, it helps to look at its close relative: porter.  Porter is said to have originated in London, England in the 1700s, pre-dating stout. The carbonate-rich water here was ideal for brewing dark beers, much like the water in Dublin.  Porter is brown to black in colour, clear or opaque and has aromas such as chocolate or coffee from dark roasted malts. It may also have caramel notes if a small amount of caramel malt is used.   So you can see how a porter sits in the same family as a stout!    English-style porter   This style typically has fruity esters from British ale yeast along with a low level of diacetyl (a natural by-product of fermentation that can give buttery or butterscotch notes if present), which is acceptable at low levels.  It typically has low to medium alcohol and bitterness, sometimes with subtle earthy, fruity or herbal aromas from traditional British hops.    American-style porter  This style of porter is generally higher in alcohol than the English style, features a subtle burnt bread note, and as it typically uses American ale yeast it can have a subtle fruity character.   As is often the case with American styles, it typically has more prominent citrus, stone, tropical fruit, pine or resin aroma and bitterness from the use of American hops.      Want to learn more about beer, from brewing to tasting? The WSET beer qualifications are perfect for enthusiasts or professionals wanting to learn more about beer.       Additional reading:  A beginner's guide to beer styles Classic British beer styles: Stout, pale ale and mild Step into the world of Czech lager (video) https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/irish-stout-vs-imperial-stout-is-there-a-difference https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/irish-stout-vs-imperial-stout-is-there-a-difference Fri, 17 April 2026 09:42:00