2. What makes it black? The dark color (Guinness officially claims it is very dark ruby, not black) comes from roasted barley. Unlike most of the barley used in making beer, roasted barley isn't malted. Still, this seemingly defining characteristic wasn't a feature of Guinness until the late 1920s or early 1930s -- well after the company had established itself as a brewing titan.
3. Was Guinness always about stout? "Stout" was originally merely an adjective in brewing parlance and meant nothing more than "strong." It was applied to beers both light and dark in color. Guinness gained fame as a brewer of porter, another style of dark ale, and in the mid-1800s it applied the term "stout" to one of its products to indicate a premium level of alcohol and richness: Guinness Stout Porter. Eventually "porter" was dropped altogether and stout evolved into a style all its own.
