Barley Island Brass Knuckles Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Sweet Stout
Noblesville, Indiana USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Black with a huge tan head. Pour 1 oz and your glass overflows with foam. Aroma and flavor of roasted malts, bittersweet chocolate and coffee. Pretty sweet but with a bitter finish.

Dark beer out of the tap with a foamy brown head. Roasted grain, dry fruit and molasses nose. Sweet molasses with dark roasted grain, dark fruit, some dusty chocolate and a coffee bitterness in the finish. Nice stout.

Bottle. Chocolate, roasty coffee, and peat aroma. Black with a small brown head. Sweet chocolate and coffee malt, peat, and light ashy flavor. Medium to full body, moderate carbonation.

It’s OK. Definitely has a nice mouthfeel, with the typical creaminess. The usual dark chocolate and coffee with a unique bitter end. The bitterness isn’t exactly my favorite, so that cuts down on its score for me.

Pours black with a thick, slow, dark brown head. Scent is a rich, smoky, dark roasted chocolate. Taste is big... chocolate malt, roast, coffee, smooth oatmeal. Very creamy, sweet with a slight bitter at the end. An excellent little beer.

UPDATED: MAR 5, 2012 If you ever find yourself visiting the Noblesville brewery, this is one of the best bets on the rotating tap list. As far as oatmeal stouts go, Brass Knuckles ranks somewhere in the middle for me. A thick, full-bodied pour creates a head that is darker than you would imagine, but the aftertaste leaves something more to desire. There is still a lot going for this one, though, and I would rank it toward the top of what Barley Island has to offer. They are a hit-and-miss microbrewery nowadays, but this is always a nice mainstay.

I was not expecting this to be such a deep black but there it is. It’s head is just huge too and long lasting to the point where it’s still sitting there a few inches thick when you want to just get right down and start drinking it. This is a big, sweet brew w/ balance provided by roasted malts. Aroma is more subdued than the flavor and has the expected chocolate but an unfortunate bit of cardboard. This drinks a bit bigger that it’s 4.9% ABV but definitely in a good full-bodied way and not a sticky way. To be honest, I think this is a really good beer but in less than perfect condition, probably a bit old. I want to give Barley Island the benefit of the doubt but I can’t figure out when it was bottled based on the bottle.

Chocolate and coffee on the nose, this ale is deep brown with a short lived tan head. Taste is medium sweetness, followed by lightly bitter and sour notes. Body is a little light for an oatmeal stout, texture is slick, carbonation is soft, and finish is slightly bitter but rather abrupt. In summary, this is a sessionable oatmeal stout that I’d not turn down but not seek out, unless its time to get my oatmeal on. (Oh yes I did.)

Date: January 18, 2012 Mode: Bottle Source: Crown Liqour Description: Opaque dark brown pour with some head that did not last and no lacing. Aroma was roasted malt and oats. Taste is similar with some coffee and sweet chocolate.

12oz bottle pour. leaves the bottle damn near black and with a minimal tan head. looks really nice in the glass! roasted malts, coffee beans and some chocolate hit your nose. the texture is creamy and full bodied. you pick up on some roasted coffee flavor and chocolate but neither are overpowering. very tasty.