Boulder Beer Obovoid Oak-Aged Oatmeal Stout

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

Dark brown with ruby edges. Long lasting, thin, very light tan head. Nose shows some oak chip character (in other words...fake, non-authentic wood, which shows only a touch of vanilla,) some herbal, citrus-like hops and a very light roast character. Flavor is very light in character and also light in body and palate. Flavor shows a light touch of vanilla from the oak chips. Not much malt character to speak of, maybe a touch of dark fruit and chocolate, but it’s such a stretch. Overall, this beer leaves a lot to be desired.

Pour is a dark black with a large tan head. Aroma is chocolate and coffee with a hint of the oak, I think that is what they were going for in this beer. Flavor is a super rich coffee, almost like an espresso. Finish has a bit of the oak. Not oaked out the wazoo like some beers but a decent stout with just the right amount of the oak-aging going on.

Nice thick brown head of fine and dense bubbles. Rich and roasty aroma with lots of roasted granis, milk chocolate, cherry cordial and some other dark fruit. Very dark port brown in color. Loads of roasted grains again, bitter dark chocolate, raisins and a touch of alcohol. The alcohol is more prominent than expected for a 7.5% ABV. Finishes roasty with some bitterness and roastyness. A pretty good stout.

Pours black into a snifter. Mocha head with good retention leaves spotted lacing. Light sour cocoa aromas. Thin with upfront oak and soured milk chocolate with a mild hop finish.

Draft at Fatheads in Pittsburgh PA. My notes are not very detailed. Pours a deep brown/ black with a tan head. Aroma of coffee and plums. Flavor of coffee, dark roast, dark chocolate, and even a hint of balsamic reduction. Semi dry finish with some hints of pepper that lingers.

Body-nearly opaque with a loose thin ring of bubbles. Nose-light coffee, mildly lactic, light sweet straw, very light metal. Taste-CO2, great dry woody roastiness, good overall lactic creamy light coffee. Well done in an understated kind of way.

Deep chestnut body beneath a frothy tan head. Aroma of dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, citrus, wood. Flavor is dark chocolate and coffee with a slight hoppy finish. The medium body could use some heft. Otherwise, a pleasant stout.

22oz from Warehouse Beverage, Cleveland Heights. Fizzy pour, opaque, and a fairly crisp head. The oak is present in the nose, and comes across as fairly one-dimensional vanilla. Initial sips promise a nice integration between the barrel aging and the chewy roasts of the oatmeal. But funnily enough it gets less complex as it warms, first syrupy and then quite thin and anonymously malty. After a strong start, it’s a disappointing finish.