Very dark brown with a malty, relatively phenolic aroma. Palate has hints of toasty and a light chocolate note. Light coffee, as well as hints of chooclate and nuts, carry the middle. Somewhat thin bodied but decent profile.

Tap @ Brewpub: Black, no head, light lacing. Nose of sweet maple char, subtle roast, light astringency, patent with black licorice and chocolate/mocha to blend. Nice sweet and glutinous nose. The flavor is smoky and nicely balanced from roast, bitter, astringent and sweet, but in the opposite order. The mouthfeel is creamy, nice finish, low astringency like a sweet stout should be. Low carbonation, it works well.

Draft at the brewpub. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasted malty coffee and chocolate flavor. Has a hard roasted malty chocolate and coffee finish.

Great maple and brown sugar oatmeal aroma. Deep and rich black coloring, with a ligher tan head. Great roasty aroma and flavor, nice creamy chocolate cake with a moist mouthfeel, coats the palate. This is quite tasty.

<i>(Draft: Big Horse Brew Pub in Hood River, OR)</i> Having switched Nitemare from an Imperial to an Oatmeal Stout, the brewer (Jason) has totally revamped this beer. Sweet, roasty, and alcoholic, the nose also shows the expected oatmeal aroma. The flavor shows the same characteristics, sweet, oaty, roasty, fairly bitter, with alcohol not really all that noticeable to me. Roasty, bitter, and slightly smoky finish helps keep this pretty sweet beer from becoming cloying. Full bodied, naturally, fully coating, somewhat syrupy on the palate. Very dark brown in color, not quite black, but fully opaque except at the edges. The tan head dies down very quickly, fading to a thin ring, and can’t manage to leave more than a trace of lace on the glass. Overall, another excellent beer, and at this point, after trying them all, I’m not surprised at all. Everything’s been great, and I expect wonderful things from Big Horse now that a new brewer is in place.