Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Boonville, California USA

Word! After suffering through 4 other mediocre beers at Dad’s, finely a really enjoyable one! No idea why I haven’t had this yet! Beautiful pour, almost dark as night, very little light along edges. Fluffy head, lacing. What more could you ask? Oh yeah, lacing...it’s got that, too. Wonderful blend of chocolate, roast, sweetness and even a little bitterness to round it out. Smooth as silk mouthfeel, but not flat. Excellent! The best sweet stout for me to date!

This dark brown ale poured with almost no head. The flavor is not real intense, but is very balanced and tasty. It’s malty with chocolate notes and a long chalky finish.

Pours deep dark brown. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, caramel and roasted malts. Flavor gives you some bitterness, coffee, caramel, and roasted malts. A nice sweet/ bitter balance.

12 oz. bottle. Coffee black with a thin tan head. Coffee, anise, smoke, dirt, hops, and a tiny bit of alcohol in the nose. I’m immediately surprised at how bitter it is, not expected. Good flavor, coffee, smoky malt, coffee. A little astringent. A solid for the style.

Bottle. Poured black with a beautiful brown head. Smells primarily of chocolate and roasted malt with some notes of caramel and a hint of coffee. Medium/full mouthfeel. Taste pretty bland. Chocolate and roasted malt are most noticeable, with some notes of hops, caramel and coffee and a bit of a metallic aftertaste. A very underwhelming beer that could use something more. A stout should not be this easy to drink.

12oz. Black beer with a tan head. Aroma is mostly sweet malt and a bit of sour. Flavor is coffee, sour malt, and not a whole lot else. Fairly soft overall, a bit lacking in character, not my favorite oatmeal stout.

Pours a dark dark dark brown to black with a good enough tan head, thinning to a small loose assemblage of large bubbles in a film. The nose is rather as expected. That is, stout-like. No flaws. A bit chocolatey. A bit roasty, a bit creamy. A bit sweet. Well balanced, with some small floral hops. Perhaps a bit nutty, nice. Smooth full bodied texture with very small even bubbles. Decent enough viscosity. Slightly bigger fan of the flavor. Sweet stout all the way. Creamy, full sweet malt, with a hit of roast, definite chocolate and a good measure of roasty to fruity acidity to balance her out. Naybe some floral hops too. A lingering fruity acidity with a roast bite in the very end. A well executed sweet stout, if I’ve ever had one.

Bottle. Small, dissipating head on this standardly dark stout. Aroma of deeply roasted cashews plus a bit of malted chocolate. Wonderfully tiny bubbles on the tongue. A bit sticky goin’ down . Flavor more sweet than bitter & slightly lactic. Sweetness is well balanced by slightly acidic coffee flavors at the end. More chocolate than coffee, overall, though. Nice.