Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

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

15 DEC 07, Southeast YeHa. (empirical stout) Looking glass series. 22oz bottle. Deep dark brown color. Aroma is a bit oaky, roasty. Flavor is roasty. Sharp carbonation. Not impressed. Finishes of cocoa and roasted coffee beans.

Hazy dark chestnut. Straightup fudge & coffee nose. Somewhat light "foreign" body with vague icing sugar sweetness. Very nutty. A little underwhelming.

Appearance: Pours a black body with a light khaki-colored head. Smell: Aroma of roasted malt and charred grains, with hints of unsweetened chocolate, coffee, and, of course, the oak. Taste: The flavor of roasted malts and burnt grains yield little sweetness. Some hints of acidic black coffee and chocolate. The oaken aspect seems raw and unrefined, like chomping down on a pencil. Herbal hops with a light bitterness. Dry, roasty finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: An okay oaky.

Looks like a stout. Very dry, ash andmineral-filled aroma. From the aroma, I don’t believe that this is an oatmeal stout. The flavor is a little better - the oatmeal becomes more evident, it is slightly sweetened with some vanilla undertones. A slight bitterness comes out in the finish, almost like dark chocolate. Not bad.

Nearly black beer, with a fairly impressive soapy lace - very subtle oak in the aroma (I was bracing myself for the typical, barrel-aged oak overload), which is a nice change of pace - other notes in the aroma include chocolate and roasted malts, sweetened espresso, and earthy, vegetal qualities - kind of spicy and medium bitter up front, with coffee and cream being a dominant characteristic throughout - out of place blueberry fruitiness is a bit distracting - background earthy, root vegetable notes manifest abruptly, but the coffee bitterness stomps them out quickly - oak and vanilla are an afterthought, passing over the palate swiftly, as tobacco and roasted notes finish things off - it could have been really good, but those odd, and probably unintentional flavors really distract from its good qualities.

Slightly sweet aroma, touch of oak, and an almost sour off aroma. Pours a dark black, with ruby highlights available at the edges of the glass, has a large head that fades down, leaving great lacing behind. Taste has a touch of coffee and oak. Very watery mouthfeel. Not bad... but not something I’m going out of my way to get more of.

22 oz bottle. Pours a bubbly thin black with a froth very very light beige head. Aroma of overlly sweet chocolate, some underlying cooked vegtables and oats. The palate was about the only thing right with this beer with a mediu body and a smooth thick mouthfeel with just the right amount of carbonation. Flavor starts off very buttery with hints of chocolate. As this beer warms the flavor improves to bad I after the first few sips I dumped the rest of the bottle out. Yet another underwhelming beer from an underwhelming company.

Black pour, tan head, decent lacing and retention. Aroma is roast, coffee, oats, some chocolate and if you search you can find hints of oak. I’m guessing oak chips, not barrels as the oak character lacks and doesn’t feel genuine. Medium to light body. Not bad.