Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

Brewed by Boulder Beer Company
Style: Stout
Boulder, Colorado USA

Draft: pours dark black, roasty coffee and chocolate aroma, taste is the same, fairly thin mouthfeel for a beer that looks like it would have some weight.

Courtesy of Gilliard. The aroma is full of sweet molasses, cookies, cereal grains, chocolate, coffee and burnt/roasted malts. The body is full black and holds a finger sized creamy mocha head that is mostly diminishing. The flavor is lightly sour with turned milk/lactose and licorice notes and gobs of bitter coffee/espresso notes. I get some mild tobacco notes as well. It’s just not very satisfying from a flavor standpoint even though it isn’t exactly bad. Being fairly thinned bodied isn’t helping either.

22oz bottle from Kingdom Liquors (Tampa, FL). Pours a dark brown to black with a two finger tan head tat settles slowly. Good head retention and glass lacing. Aroma is vanilla, maple syrup, rich malt, dark chocolate, hints of coffee and toffee. Flavor is much of the same with vanilla and deep, rich malt notes, burnt dark chocolate, coffee and a hint of oakiness. Medium to full body with a strong coffee and chocolate finish.

From a bottle, this poured black as india ink with a tan head and fat greasy lacing. Nose of burnt malt and chocolate. Full rich mouthfeel. Flavor is a bit sweet and the finish is nicely bitter. Good.

22oz bottle: Midnight black pour with a creamy mocha colored head that is pretty darn sticky. The nose is soft blend of baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder and a vanilla oakiness. The oatmeal lends a chewy, creamy mouthfeel. The body is all about the roasted malts - espresso, milk chocolate, fudge brownie. The oak is sublte, but present, adding some soft notes to the mix. Finishes with a moderate bitterness, bringing everything together. Not bad, but doesn’t display the complexity I was hoping for.

Bottle pours black with a lasting beige head. Light roasttted aromas with some chocolate. Flavor is sweet dark malts and a mild roastiness. Moderately bitter with some pine hops. Soft carbonation and a slightly light aaand thi body.

Bottle: Pours a black color with an off-white head and nice lacing. The nose is ripe and roasty with plenty of chocolate and cocoa notes, some oaky notes but I was hoping for more vanilla and less astringency, but that’s probably from bourbon aging I recon. The flavor is nice and roasty with a mild hop bite in the tail and subtle roast astringency. A creamy mouthfeel and flavor. Good oatmeal stout!

Definately not a summer beer. Nose was OK, color fine, balance present initially, but quick finish. Only major complaint, a bit thin iin the mouth.