Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

Bomber. Pours clear cola brown with a creamy tan head. Pine-tinged coffee/chocolate nose. Medium-to-light body, moderate carbonation. Mostly coffee in the taste. Dry pine and wood finish that seems a little thin. There’s oatmeal in here?

22oz bomber. Pours a dark brown (and I always thought deep space was black) with a tan head that rapidly dissipates with good lacing. Nose brings instances of coffee, caramel, toffee and malt. Taste is wonderful in its complexity. The aforementioned aromas are readily present, along with hops and oak. Mouthfeel is good but the body is somewhat light. Aftertaste is slightly metallic.

Deep dark brown coloured body with a nice dense tan head that seems to fade fast. Aroma of fresh hops out of the bottle but definitely showing more oatmeal and roasted malt in the glass. A bunch of caramel and sugars also grace the aroma. Medium-bodied; Nice complex taste with hops again showing remarkably first then oak, vanilla, figs and oatmeal. Aftertaste shows the caramel and sweetness but the alcohol aftertones and smoke goes nicely. Overall, a nice beer and great to try without being horribly overpowering! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from K&E Discount Beverage in New Paltz, New York on 07-April-2008.

The Dan Journal #165. Tasted 4/5/08. 22oz bomber. Dark brown hued. Medium sized beige bubbled head. Cocoa and toffee aromas. Full bodied with big malts. Smooth with a nice rolling malt driven palate. Thin? Or just nicely melded? Tart coffee flavors. Crisp and tingling effervecence. Chocolate notes with mild acidity. Subtle fruity esters. Great drinkability, but a touch light.

Black molasses with an oatmeal stout-like creamed head that thins fast. Smooth, yet pungent, black patent is keenly noticeable in the aroma. Dry black patent flavor with an appealing charcoal smokiness, but unfortunately lacks complexity. Well-balanced, but dry, probably only increased by the oaking. To me, this is a porter, and a solid one.

Pours a deep dark brown with a three-finger, pitted, beige head that laces nicely and takes its time diminishing. The aroma is of chocolate, on the pour. After subsiding I get notes of: roasted malt, light ash, lactose and, again, chocolate. Medium to full-bodied and silky-slick with a lingering, nicely bitter, roasted finish. The flavor is of sweet, roasted malt along with bitter chocolate and lactose notes, up front, transitioning to a roasted and earthy bitter-hopped finish (with just a touch of dry oakiness in the aftertaste). The hops really come forward as it warms. This is a fairly tasty stout and one of those beers that I found to be better than the sum of its parts; pretty nice.

22oz bottle. pours dark black with soapy tan head. nose is very roasty, some chocolate and oak. flavors are mostly roasty, dry baker’s chocolate, mild oak notes. dry finish that sits heavy on the palate.. initially it seems rather watery. fizzy carbonation.

Everything with this one is just a bit off; from the burnt toast aroma, to the absence of oakiness for being oak-aged, to that train wreck of a name. Overbearing bitter coffee aftertaste conceals the oats of the oatmeal stout. Pass!!!