Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

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

The aroma is acidic and sour with molasses, vinegar, toasted malt, oatmeal, and chocolate. The appearance is dark brown with a tan head. The flavor is like the aroma. The palate is thin for the style. I have to say that I can’t stand the sourness of this beer and there isn’t much else about this beer that I like.

(Bottle, Stockholm Beer Festival, 27 Sep 2008) Black colour with frothy, pale brown head. Rosated, malty nose with smooth creamy chocolate, roasted oats and caffe latte. Malty, roasted taste with notes of milky chocolate, toffee (Swedish Dumlekola to be precise), caffe latte and a smooth, bittersweet finish. Balanced sweetness. Medium body, smooth and creamy texture. Very nice one!

Black colour with a nice head. Aroma of wheat, oat and roastedness. Roasted flavour with notes of chocolate and some fruitness.

Dry, musty, creosote stout aroma. Cool cap, cool label - very west-coast micro. A hearty but balanced flavor - moderate sweetness, hazelnut, roast, chocolate in a very drinkable blend. Lingering coffee bitterness with creamy cocoa. Moderately viscous mouthfeel. Quite good - certainly deserving of its high ranking. Picked this one up in Phoenix.

As dark as they come, the head is frothy, long lasting and light chocolate in color, the lace is in sheets. Nose is toasted grains, bitter sweet chocolate, expresso maybe a better hint as to the aroma. Front is sweet, the top is light to medium, the finish is dry, nice hop presence, long lasting after taste and a quite decent stout. Ranks #420 on my current 1000 beer master list.

Appearance: Dark brown instant coffee appearance crowned with a head resembling chocolate milk bubbles. Smell: Mostly mild coffee in the nose coupled with a bit of chocolate-dipped oatmeal cookie sweetness. Taste: All the classic flavors are present: sweet malts, good coffee, earthen roastiness, and a bit of smoke. All flavors are nicely layered with a rich milkiness. Also, there’s a gentle hoppiness that emerges near the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium, though nicely textured and wholly drinkable with decent amounts of carbonation. A good soothing beer. Drinkability: The unaggressive nature, and overall smoothness of the oatmeal stout style certainly lends to an ease in drinkability. Do I "love" the beer? No, probably not. I do like it a great deal, though, as well as recommend it to others. Enjoy!

Buffalo Brewfest 04. Black pour, tan head. A decent hoppy aroma. Lots of bitterness in taste, with a full bodied oatmeal/grain taste. Sweet finish, creamy and very good.

Bottle: Very nice roasted coffee aroma with chocolate and light black licorice. Pours a very dark brown, virtually black with a small tan head that is short lasting. Flavor of roasted coffee, grain, licorice, light chocolate. A sort of fruitiness hides in the background. Lightly hopped roasted coffee finish. A very nice stout. Chocolate flavor started off light, but really got bigger the more I drank.