This style is a strange breed. Almost forgotten, it is enjoying a little bit of resurgence in recent years. Originally a regional brew of Northumbria, it is most associated with Yorkshire England. It can be difficult to classify this monster; there is so much overlap with strong ale styles. Essentially it is a “Mild Ale” brewed to Strong Ale strength. Milds, are a Brown Ale, typically a “session” beer. (Session strength just means it is a low alcohol beer that you can drink several of in quick succession, without speaking in tongues, or becoming unable to hit the floor with your hat.)
Stingo should be dark, but not evidence a great deal of roasted character (it would fall into a strong Porter in that case.) Some of the flavor should come from added sugars, and this sugar also acts to “dry out” what would otherwise be an painfully sweet brew.
Historically, there were many versions of this style. Some were highly hopped, some had very little hop character. Some were much darker than others. The stronger versions were aged for long periods of time in oak, giving them not only an “oaked” flavor, but also a sourness from the lactic acid producing bacteria found in the barrels. It is possible the “sting” in Stingo comes from this sour “tang.” There were also many un-aged variants that lacked this sourness entirely.
I recently read an article on this most delightful beer in the Zymurgy magazine, and it reminded me of how much I like this beer. Somehow, even I had forgotten about it. So, I dusted off my old hand written notes, and brewed a batch.

My recipe is of the un-oaked variant, and as such is on the lower end of gravity for the style, if you can call an 8% plus beer “low gravity.” It is best if allowed to age for up to three months or so.
The secret to brewing these things is in the process, so much of what I do may sound a little strange by conventional brewing standards. Here is the recipe.

For a five gallon batch.

Grain bill:
13 pounds Maris Otter Malt
0.5 pounds Crystal Malt 120L
0.25 pounds Special B
0.25 pounds Chocolate Wheat
1-2 ounces of Dark Roasted Barley (note: do not add this to the mash)

5-ounces Turbinado sugar
5-ounces Brown sugar
1.5- ounces molasses

Hops:
1-ounce East Kent Goldings 60-minutes
1-ounce Fuggles 60-minutes
1-ounce East Kent Goldings 5-minutes

S-04 yeast

Process:

Mash fairly thick, with a ratio of 1-quart per pound of grain, at 158 degrees. A single infusion mash is best, and is historically accurate. Don’t get in a hurry! Stir the mash at least once every 15-minutes. Also, mash this beast for at least an hour and fifteen minutes, up to an hour and a half. The idea is squeeze as much flavor out of the grain as possible. The added time allows some of the sugar to convert into shorter chains, creating more fermentable sugars. “Why not just mash lower?” you might ask. Well, you don’t get as much flavor that way, and you still want a bunch of un-fermentable, longer chained sugars in there.
Very important: After draining the first runnings into the kettle, boil it, hard, for about ten minutes. This stops all enzyme activity, caramelizes some of the sugars, and develops (you guessed it) more flavor.
Stir in the first sparge water, and sprinkle about an ounce or two of Dark Roasted Barley on top. Let this set for a good solid ten minutes, and stir. Let this sparge rest for 30-minutes. (this will give you some color, without a lot of roasted character.)
Drain the first sparge into the kettle (turn the heat off first!) and stir in the second sparge. Allow the second sparge to rest for 20-minutes, stirring at least three times.
Bring everything to a boil, and let it boil hard until it settles down, and stops wanting to foam up and boil over, then turn down the heat, and get it to just barely boil, for an hour and a half. Don’t forget to add your hops, at the appropriate times...
With 15-minutes left in the boil, add the sugars. This is best accomplished by dissolving the brown and turbinado sugar in just enough water to get the job done. Bring this to a boil, for about five minutes or so, and add the molasses. Then just dump the whole contents into the kettle.
Chill normally, and when ready, get the wort into the fermenter, agitate well to aerate (I pour directly from the kettle to get lots of aeration,) and pitch the yeast.
Allow to ferment in Primary for at least five weeks, gently rousing the yeast every other day or so, after the first two weeks. When it is done, bottle or keg, and allow to age for two to three months before drinking. Carbonate this on the low side.

Vital statistics:

Original Gravity: 1.083
Final Gravity: +/- 1.021
Bitterness: 51 IBU
Color: calculates to 21 SRM, but will be darker
Alcohol: 8.1% APV
Calories per 12-ounce serving: 270