There are probably more than a few people who are surprised when they first hear about oyster stout, but actually this combo has been a pretty tasty hit since olden times in England.

In the 1720s, laborers fairly commonly drank porter. Oysters, meanwhile, were fairly easy to get in London and a cheap source of nourishment. Laborers would drink their porter, eat their oysters and get a fairly affordable meal.

In the 1770s porter crossed the seas to Ireland. In Dublin, a little company called Guiness got a hold of this porter and upped the alcohol to make a “stout porter (or strong porter). Thereafter, “porter stout” simply became “stout.” In Ireland, the birthplace of stout, oysters were also an easily obtainable food source and snacking on raw oysters while drinking stout became a fairly widespread custom. The delicate, salty scent of oysters and the malty taste of stout complement each other exquisitely and so the combination of the two in cooking and in brewing was ideal for many.

War at the time brought vast shortages and influenced the history of this drink; it seems the shells were used in the brewing process. Since oyster shells are alkaline, adding their crushed powder to the beer neutralizes the acidity, giving the beer a pleasing velvety consistency when sipping it. Furthermore, it is also used as a fining agent.

Surprisingly, in 1930 a brewery in New Zealand called Portsmouth Brewing became the first to actually use real oysters in brewing their stout. Then in 1930, England’s Castletown Brewery began to produce “Manx Oyster Stout,” which also incorporated real oysters into the brewing.

There are a handful of brewers making some great oyster stout in Japan, too! Iwatekura Beer, from Iwate prefecture, makes oyster stout regularly and uses real oysters, while Isekadoya in Mie prefecture and Hitachino Nest in Ibaraki prefecture make seasonal versions of oyster stout. Interestingly, Isekadoya lowers a net-full of their delicious local oysters already baked into the wort boil. Still second-guessing the flavor? Trust us and give this great combo a try.

by Kido Hirotaka

This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.