Java Stout is an imperial coffee stout brewed by Santa Fe Brewing Company, the Santa Fe brewery founded in 1988. Untappd lists it as a Stout – Imperial / Double Coffee at 8% ABV and 50 IBU, and the brewery sells it in cans as part of its year-round lineup. It is a natural pick as the evenings turn cold in northern New Mexico.
- Style: Imperial coffee stout (Untappd: Stout – Imperial / Double Coffee)
- ABV: 8%
- IBU: 50
- Brewery: Santa Fe Brewing Company
- Where to find it: Santa Fe, at the brewery’s taprooms and in cans
What is an imperial coffee stout?
A stout is a dark ale, a beer fermented with warm-working ale yeast, that gets its near-black color and roasted flavor from malted barley kilned until it is dark, much the way coffee beans are roasted. Roasted malt tends to bring flavors people describe as coffee, dark chocolate, and toast, even before any coffee goes into the kettle.
“Imperial” is brewer shorthand for bigger. An imperial stout uses more malt than a standard stout, which gives the yeast more sugar to ferment, so the beer ends up stronger and fuller in body. Where a classic dry Irish stout often sits around 4% to 5% ABV, imperial stouts commonly start around 8% and can climb well past 10%.
A coffee stout adds real coffee to the recipe, either as whole beans, ground coffee, or cold brew. Because roasted malt already leans toward coffee flavors, the two tend to work together naturally. The result is a style that many drinkers reach for in fall and winter: dark, rich, and built for sipping slowly rather than finishing fast.
How Santa Fe Brewing describes Java Stout
Santa Fe Brewing has fun with this one. On its website, the brewery sums up Java Stout as “beer and caffeine in one glass,” and describes it as a can of imperial stout made with locally roasted, organic coffee beans. The brewery’s beer page lists the color as black and the body as full.
The Java Stout description on Untappd fills in more of the recipe. It says the brewery uses extra-generous amounts of barley malt and a vigorous fermentation to reach 8% ABV, and compares the body to chocolate bread pudding. According to that description, the coffee is organic beans from East Timor and New Guinea, roasted locally by O’Hori’s Coffee House.
Put together, the brewery’s own words point to three things to look for:
- Coffee up front. The brewery leans into the coffee, and the website jokes that the beer is coffee “extra extra leaded.”
- A big malt backbone. Extra barley malt is what makes this an imperial stout, and it supports both the strength and the full body.
- A dessert-like body. The bread pudding comparison is the brewery’s way of saying this beer is rich and round, not thin.
The brewery also suggests food pairings on its beer page: chicken mole, French toast, tiramisu, and vanilla bean ice cream, along with tangy cheeses such as English cheddar or a creamy Gorgonzola. Mole is a particularly good fit for a New Mexico table, since chile and chocolate are already old friends.
What Untappd drinkers think of Java Stout
Java Stout has been listed on Untappd since December 2010. As of October 2026, it is rated 3.88 by more than 36,000 Untappd users, across more than 57,000 check-ins. That makes it the second most checked-in beer on Santa Fe Brewing’s Untappd page, behind only Happy Camper IPA, and the highest rated of the brewery’s ten most checked-in beers. Untappd lists it as in production.
Those numbers reflect more than a decade of people coming back to the same beer. You can read the full listing, including recent check-ins, on the Java Stout page on Untappd.
About Santa Fe Brewing Company
Santa Fe Brewing Company started in 1988, and the brewery tells its origin story with a grin: three cowboys, some used equipment, and a high tolerance for risk. It calls itself New Mexico’s original craft brewery, and it has been brewing and canning beer in Santa Fe ever since. Untappd classifies it as a regional brewery.
Santa Fe Brewing’s headquarters and Beer Hall sit at 35 Fire Place in Santa Fe. The brewery also pours at The Brakeroom at 510 Galisteo Street, closer to downtown, and at its Eldorado Taphouse at 7 Caliente Road. Its current lineup, listed on santafebrewing.com, runs from Happy Camper IPA and 7K IPA to Pepe Loco, a Mexican-style lager.
If you like darker beers, Java Stout has good company on that list. State Pen Porter is the brewery’s American porter, and Adobe Igloo is its winter warmer, a style usually brewed with a richer malt character for cold weather. Trying the three side by side makes a fine winter evening, with a rideshare home to round it out.
Java Stout: quick answers
What kind of beer is Santa Fe Brewing’s Java Stout?
It is an imperial coffee stout from Santa Fe Brewing Company. Untappd lists it at 8% ABV and 50 IBU, and the brewery describes it as a full-bodied imperial stout made with locally roasted, organic coffee beans.
Does Java Stout have caffeine?
The brewery’s own tagline pairs beer and caffeine, since the beer is brewed with real coffee. Santa Fe Brewing does not publish a caffeine amount, so if caffeine matters to you, ask at the taproom or treat it like an evening coffee.
Where can I drink Java Stout in Santa Fe?
Santa Fe Brewing pours at its Beer Hall at HQ on Fire Place, The Brakeroom on Galisteo Street, and the Eldorado Taphouse. The beer is also sold in cans. Tap lists change, so check the brewery’s beer finder or call ahead before making a trip for it.
Find it on the map
If your idea of a winter warm-up is coffee and a dark beer, Java Stout lets you have both in one glass. You can find Santa Fe Brewing’s taprooms, along with the rest of the state’s New Mexico breweries, on the New Mexico Breweries map, from Farmington to Las Cruces.
Beer details from Untappd.
