Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

Bottle. Pours black, medium tan head. Hmmmm.....interesting aroma, some bitter chocolate and metallic and tangy. Same tangyness as some of their other beers. Taste is smoke, burnt coffee, bitter chocolate. Thin and silky. A little watery in the finish, slight bitterness and smoke. Not one of my favs.

650 mL bottle. Aroma of choclate and oats. Taste of chocolate, oats, and molasses, which transitions to a smokey roastiness and finishes bitter-sweet and semi-dry. Bottle cap said, "You ARE Worthy!" Humble Bastards.

Peripherals: Ruby brown and glowing in the glass with a large, beautiful fluffy tan head. Smells sweet and buttery, but weak. First cut: Thin, with a burst of sour grape flavor in the middle. Watery texture. Deeper: Tries to get dry on the end, but doesn’t really succeed, having to overcome the impression of wateriness; however, there is a vaguely roasty flavor on the end. It’s interesting, not necessarily like other oatmeal stouts I’ve had (lacks that mustly oatsy quality). Sampled at a gathering of TN Ratebeerians a couple months ago; thanks to whoever brought it (didn’t write down who).

This could make a great baseline or starter beer for someone looking to explore sweet stouts. Not a bad session beer either it is pretty easy drinking. Thin body, slight head. Smells of raosted malts, coffee & oates. Flavors are similar with some sweetness and chocolatey malts. Overall it’s a tasty, easy to find above average stout.

(Bottle) Aroma sweet, not particularly strong, like mildly roasted oats. Flavour, sweet, too much so. Fairly heavy and thick, and very flat. I do not notice the "dry finish" that other reviewers mention--to me, this lacks the dry bitterness that is essential in this type of beer. Although there weren’t many strongly objectionable qualities, overall I thought that this was a weak, bland beer was far from impressive.

Bomber - Smooth pour into a goblet, dark mohogany and maroon colors around the edges, with a near-black center. Disappointing head that remained as a thin film on the edges for most of sipping. Aroma of smokey malts, light roastiness, gingerbread and chocolates. Its says oatmeal stout, I got the rolled oats in the flavor, but to me it was pretty subtle. Pretty sweet and dry finish with low alcohol. Not bad at all, worth a try, but I prefer the Imperials

12 oz Bottle-Poured black w/a moderate off white head. Roasted malt aroma. Kind of a standard Stout-roasted malt, coffee, licorice, some chocolate, did have a little bit of a smoked overtone to it but nothing major. Kind of light & thin, Had some carbination; Dry finish. Nothing special, solid brew.

Bottle. Poured black with a thick tan head. Aroma of oats and barley. Medium body with malt, chocolate but not much oats. Light finish. with mild oatmeal notes.