Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout

Bottle Date appears to be January 2007, Sampled March 2007
Pours an almost black, it sits quite opaquely in my glass. It is topped by an initially two-finger thick, light chocolate brown colored head that disappears fairly quickly. The aroma is driven by the roast malt character. Lots of toasty malt notes evoke thoughts of chocolate and powdered toasted soda-crackers. Despite the large dark malt character, the aroma really does not seem to pick up any dark, coffee-type roasted notes.

The flavor has a soft sweetness to it up front, though it has quite a light body to it. It immediately pix up toasted malt / almost roasted biscuit flavors; these flavors linger on in to a long dry finish. In the finish is also a touch of roasted acidity (think a hint of black coffee acidity) as well as more traditional roasted grain notes of roast coffee beans and deeply caramelized (to the point of being burnt) malt sugars.

This is a nice drinking porter, while the burnt acidity is kept low here (definitely a good thing in a beer of this gravity), it could certainly be improved if it was even a bit less. I really like the toasted malt notes in the aroma and flavors though; it makes me think of dry oatmeal that has been left to toast in the oven. I could easily quaff a couple pints of this brew.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Poured a very dark ruby, nice tan head. Smelled of sweet oats. Taste was sweet oats, molases, coffee and chocolate. I found this a very nice basic oatmeal stout. Very drinkable.

Poured a clear very deep ruby color with a large creamy beige head. Creamy roasty aroma with a mild coffee note. Light roasty flavor. Semi-sweet. Almost a medium body.

Bottle - from sampler pack. Very dark and opaque. Rich and flavorful. Very roasty. Very smooth flavor.

Dark brown with a medium head. Fairly good lacing. Aroma is rich chocolate and coffee. Flavor is moderately sweet with just a hint of bitterness. Creamy texture. Sweet finish. A bit too unbalanced.

Another draft beer I sampled on my trip to Houston. I am a fan of oatmeal stouts, which is reflected in my rating, but I thought this one slightly under achieved. The aroma was solid, but not spectacular, featuring chocolate and coffee malt, with that oatmeal musk. It had a nice appearance, with a thick, rich dark brown/black body and a good-sized tan head. The flavor was sweet, with some bitterness too. It had a creamy, yet mildly fizzy texture.

I am generally a fan of the oatmeal stouts, but found this one to be missing a well rounded flavor like a lot of the others have. Mine tasted almost like it was smoked, but it was 3 beers in so maybe that was the reason...

On tap. Super-easy drinking. Perhaps i’m not a neutral party, cause I love oaty stouts, but the oats really do smooth out the flavor. Very nice. Re-rate: I had this out of the bottle and was totally unimpressed. The resulting scores were averaged.