Guinness Is Great But Here Are 5 Other Stouts You Should Try

Guinness might be your go-to Irish stout during a bar night out or on the weekend while gathering with friends, especially during St. Patrick's Day. However, it's not the only dark beer that enthusiasts boast as delicious. In fact, a few breweries around the world make stouts that are comparable in appearance, flavor, and body.

Knowing what a stout actually is can help you choose the best option from the huge variety available. This type of beer is an evolution of porter but it's stronger in flavor and heavier in body since it's mostly made from roasted barley. Irish stouts are on the dry side, so you're more likely to taste chocolate or coffee notes than hops or malty sweetness. Similar in flavor, English stouts have a slight bit of malty sweetness alongside hops and bitterness. As for American stouts, there isn't much of a standard flavor profile — they can have notes of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, fruit, chilies, and more.

If there's one thing you likely know about Guinness already, it's that it's the most popular Irish stout. That's not to say it's the only stout worth trying, though. To celebrate the underdog, we put together this list of exceptional brews that are just as good, and in some cases even better. Best of all, they can all be found in stores throughout the United States.

Considered better than Guinness by many of its fans, Murphy's Irish Stout has been made using the same recipe for more than 160 years. It's mashed and distilled from all-natural hops and malted barley to produce an almost completely black beverage with 4% ABV. As a result, it has chocolate, malt, and roasted barley characteristics with almost no bitterness. Not to mention the creamy finish with a fluffy mouthfeel thanks to the added nitrogen. Some people can't tell the difference between Murphy's Irish Stout and Guinness, but others prefer Murphy's for its slightly sweeter, smoother profile.

Established by James J. Murphy and his brothers, Lady's Well Brewery (Murphy's Brewery) opened in Cork, Ireland, in 1856. The Irish stout eventually won gold medals (featured on the bottles and cans) from the Brewers and Allied Trades Exhibitions in Dublin and Manchester in 1892 and 1895, respectively. This success played no small part in the brewery becoming the second largest in Ireland (after Guinness) by the early 1900s. While the brewery has been a fully-owned subsidiary of Heineken Ireland since 1983, Murphy's Irish Stout remains unchanged and even won Class 2 gold at The International Brewing Awards in 2002.

Another Irish beer you need to try if you like Guinness is O'Hara's Irish Stout Nitro. It has the same flavor profile of O'Hara's flagship Irish stout (which is itself a great alternative to Guinness, especially if you don't enjoy nitro). Having only been brewed since 1999, the recipe is relatively new, but it's won prestigious awards for its authentic taste and quality.

As a traditional dry Irish stout with a 4.3% ABV, the nitro variant is a full-bodied beer with rich, roasty characteristics and a smooth mouthfeel. Beer enthusiasts say that, compared to Guinness, O'Hara's thick, malt flavor is stronger with flavors of dark chocolate, espresso, and nuts shining through. Plus, the addition of nitrogen creates the creamy head you want from a good Irish stout.

O'Hara's Irish Stout and Irish Stout Nitro are made by Carlow Brewing Company, which was established in 1996. The brewery may be young compared to Guinness and some others, but its land in County Carlow, Ireland — a hub for brewing facilities for centuries — is famous for its ideal barley-cultivating conditions. The hard water supply is rich in limestone, too, making it well-suited for brewing Irish beers.

A popular recommendation for anyone who enjoys Guinness is the Milk Stout Nitro by Left Hand Brewing Co. Milk stouts are nicknamed "sweet stouts" because they're sweeter than traditional Irish dry stouts. This is achieved by either adding lactose to fermented beer or by brewing in a way that reduces the bitterness.

In the case of Left Hand's Milk Stout Nitro, lactose is added to the brew, but it's not overpoweringly sweet. This beer, which is 6% ABV, has aromas and flavors of brown sugar, milk chocolate, roasted coffee, and vanilla cream that makes it feel like you're drinking a roasted milkshake. Plus, it produces a creamy head that remains until you drink the whole can or bottle.

Left Hand Brewing Co. has been making beer in Longmont, Colorado, since 1993. The brewery was born out of founder Eric Wallace's hobby and passion. With a mission to continue raising the bar in the craft beer scene, the brewery became the first craft brewery to excel in bottling nitrogen-infused beer without a widget (a lid-like device that releases gas into a beer when opening it) when it introduced its Milk Stout Nitro in a bottle at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011. The brewery isn't against widgets altogether. It designed its own widget in 2017 so that its Milk Stout Nitro cans can still provide a creamy, smooth experience on the go when pouring into a glass isn't possible.

Anyone looking for a stout like Guinness that's vegetarian- and vegan-friendly should try Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. Like a milk stout, this type of beer has a slightly sweeter profile than a traditional brew. The main difference between milk and oatmeal stout, though, is that oats are added to the mash to produce a silky texture.

Along with oats, the Oatmeal Stout from Samuel Smith (which has a 5% ABV) is made with cane sugar, carbon dioxide, hops, malted barley, roasted malt, and yeast. The recipe is fermented in square vats made of Yorkshire stone, so the beverage comes out looking opaque and dark brown. It has a smooth texture, a medium-dry palate (less dry than Guinness), notes of chocolate and coffee, and a bittersweet finish.

Located in Tadcaster, United Kingdom, the Samuel Smith Old Brewery was established in 1758 and is the oldest brewing facility in Yorkshire, as well as one of the biggest family-owned breweries in the country. The most interesting thing, though, is that it still brews many of its beers, including the Oatmeal Stout, with hard water from the original Old Brewery well, which draws from 85 feet below ground.

Designated a Dublin dry stout, the Old No. 38 Stout from North Coast Brewing Company is another vegan-friendly option that's similar to Guinness. The recipe was awarded gold at the 2003 World Beer Championships in Chicago and it's won silver honors in subsequent national and international competitions.

Made with just malt and hops, the brew is 5.4% ABV with an onyx appearance. You can expect aromas of bitter chocolate, coffee beans, roasted malt, and vanilla — reminiscent of Guinness — alongside complex notes of bready malt, chocolate, and dried fruit. Also, it has a lighter mouthfeel and more bitter finish than most of the other Guinness alternatives on this list.

North Coast Brewing Company has been making beer since it was established in 1988 on the Mendocino Coast in Fort Bragg, California. Interestingly, the name of Old No. 38 Stout pays homage to the retired steam engine that operated on the California Western Railroad through the Redwood forest between Fort Bragg and Willits.