Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

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

[Bottle] Pours a clearish deep brown with ruby highlights around the edges. Aroma is roasted malt forward, with some dry oak, and bittersweet chocolate. Mouthfeel is medium with a lasting roastiness. The flavors are mostly roasted malt, with a touch of vanilla and bittersweet chocolate.

22oz bottle. Reading the rest of the reviews on this, I have to wonder if something is up with the bottle I bought. Split it with a friend and we both agree that it does not smell or taste much like an oak aged stout. It’s so hop heavy that I would have guessed it as a black IPA. Sure, there is a big malt influence with some smoke, coffee and chocolate notes, but I’m getting quite a bit of orangey hops as well. Not a bad beer by any means, but pretty disappointing if you’re looking forward to an oak aged stout.

Bomber dalekliz got me in her travels shared with her and my girlfriend and others. Porus black with a puffy tan head. Nose is sweet and malty. Taste is sweet and rich and fairly malty.

Very dark brown pour and brown head. Licorice, roasted barley, and coffee in the aroma. Flavors of deep, dark barley malt sweetness, burnt caramel, coffee, cream, touches of bitter roastiness (intentional?), and oak. Nice BA in a bottle and would certainly repeat.

Spicy chocolate, with a hint of liquorice. Black in color with a a slight deep amber hue. Foamy long-lasting head. Iced coffee with chocolate syrup, cola, good bitter balance. Big carbonation, lighter medium body, smooth roasted malt and chocolate finish with a nice mellow alcohol burn. Good unique spicy components, very distinguished from other beers in this style.

22 ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in Roseville. Roasted, burnt, anise-like aroma. Some metallic hints are also present. Some nuttiness also becomes apparent as time goes on. Virtually opaque mahogany body with a tan head that dissipates after a couple minutes. There is some decent lacing on this. Starts with a little coffee flavoring, before it becomes a bit sweet. Becomes a bit ashy with some burnt, roasted astringent flavors. Harshly bitter and burnt finish. Not a huge fan of this.

On tap at Lunar Brewing, pint served. Poured a cloudy, black/brown, with a light tan, foamy head that gradually diminished, but left a solid, clinging lace that lasted much longer than the head. The aroma had a bit of tanginess at first, along with roasted malt, and mellow, mocha tones. The flavor also presented a touch of tartness with the hop bitterness, along with the malt, cask wood, a bit of molasses, and a touch of bourbon as it warmed. Medium bodied in comparison to other stouts, but decent and flavorful.

Boulder Beer Obovoid Oak-aged Oatmeal Stout. 22 oz bottle courtesy of Maniac. Roasty chocolate aroma. Very dark mahogany brown with wispy tan head. Roast malt dominates flavor with some woodiness that comes through in the finish. Hefty bitterness. Excellent.