In the craft beer world, the stout sets itself apart in an assortment of ways. Its dark brown color, which sometimes leans toward being completely black, has a way of catching the eye versus the other brews that are either gold, red or a different hue. There’s also a high alcohol content, which is why it has the name it has, so drinkers of the brew typically limit themselves to one or two pints at most for the sake of responsibility. If you’ve ever been to the Proclamation Ale Company on 298 Kilvert Street in Warwick, then you know that the establishment has a way of shining a light on specific beers. To celebrate the stout, the brewery is going to be putting on an event called “Stout Day” in their taproom on December 8 from 12-6pm.

This is the fourth edition of the festive occasion and it’s happening at the perfect time with the weather getting colder and darker beers being more in demand. The folks who work at Proclamation view “Stout Day” as a proper alternative to the typical craft beer scene that’s all about the IPAs.

“We started it back in 2021 because we wanted to give stouts a day to shine in a world where IPAs get most of the attention,” Proclamation Owner & Creative Director Lori Witham says about the event. “While some people love to drink stouts all year round, the colder days of December are the perfect time to start getting into the richer, dark beers. In order to make ‘Stout Day’ happen, we needed to have a large number of stouts available at the same time. Making full batches of each stout wouldn't be possible or make a whole lot of sense, so we decided to make small draft-only batches for the majority of the beers and then release only one or two in cans or bottles. This allows us to make a wide variety of styles each year.”

“This year will be no different,” she adds. “We'll have 12 stouts on tap and then, because ice cream makes everything better, we also offer most stouts as a stout float! We will still have a variety of non-stouts on tap for those that want to indulge in something a little lighter. Because rich stouts deserve to be paired with delicious food, we have lobster rolls and raclette sandwiches available to enjoy alongside your favorite beers.”

The Newport Chowder Company will be serving up those lobster rolls along with their trademark chowder while the Edgewood Cheese Shop will be having the raclette sandwiches available for purchase. For folks who don’t know what raclette is, it’s a luxurious dish with origins in Switzerland, that’s also popular in France, Germany and Austria, and it’s based on heating a block or truckle cheese and scraping off the melted goodness. Imagine that on some good bread, and you’re talking about a mind-blowing treat that’s sure to be a hit. Regarding the stouts that’ll be on tap, they’ll have the chocolate & peanut butter imperial stout known as “Pieces For Peases” along with plenty of others. To know what the full list of stouts is going to be, you’re going to have to show up on Sunday and see for yourself.

For more info on Proclamation’s other beer variations, events they have going on in the future, the story behind their existence and everything else, log onto proclamationaleco.com.