Bristol Winter Warlock Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

October bottling? Creamy fast fading tan head. Dark brown body. Roasted malt, coffee, oatmeal, light sour milk in taste. Pretty creamy full flavor of roasted coffee and chocolate, sour milk and/or steamed milk. Also some brown sugar and light tar. Good flavor, which unfortunately gets overwhelming at times.

Bottle: Dark brown, thin light brown head, foamy, sparce lacing.   Nose of bittersweet cocoa, apple skin, coffee beans, and very slight soy.   Noticeable milk sugar on the tongue, dry semi-sweet cocoa, not so much coffee or soy, but a slight bit of charred earth.   Tastes more like a traditional Sweet Stout, unlikes its aroma.   Full bodied, silky mouthfeel.   Dry chalky finish, lingering cocoa.   Fairly tasty.   Thanks Tom for the bottle!

12 oz bottle. Opaque black pour with a one finger chocolate brown head, decent retention. Some sediment in bottle. Roasty and dark cocoa nose with some espresso, fairly dry. Roasty flavor with a very dry and moderately bitter finish. Notes of espresso, black patant malt, oats, and chalk. Medium bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and nice fine-bubbled natural carbonation. A pretty solid Stout with a really nice mouthfeel. Very drinkable and worth seeking out.

I enjoy this most at Bristol with Nitro. Black with a thick tan head, you can see the zillion, tiny bubbles churning in the glass, it looks SO good, and doesn’t disappoint. It smells like toasted coffee and chocolate. It’s lighter than I expected and pleasantly sweet. Lots of flavor but not over done; one of my winter favorites.

malt roasted coffee aroma, black in color , small head, roasted chocolately malt taste, somewhat light body,with oatmeal silkiness, not much bitterness. not heavy enough for a winter ale

I’ve been meaning to get my hands on Winter Warlock because it’s one of the best offerings of my local brewer. I finally sneaked a few sips from a bottle before acquiring a full glass directly from the brewery. To my great surprise they were very different from one another. I’m not certain if adjustments were made to the batch on tap at Bristol or if the bottled version I tasted was accidentally exceptional, but the question will be easily answered. In appearance both held similar character: a deep hearty black crowned of a rapidly diminishing creamy cocoa head. The nose bore similarities in the warm wet straw odor and sweet coffee qualities but the primary chocolate aroma had a much darker tone out of the growler. The flavor only furthered this impression by delivering an overly dark bitter ending. I much preferred the sweet and rich milk chocolate profile found in the bottle but luckily the bitterness mellows out as this beer warms up. An interesting brew either way, monotone but distinct and a pleasure to drink during a cold winter day.

Every time I go to my favorite liquor emporium I make a point to buy a wide range of beer styles rather than investing heavily in a single type. Being new I need try as many tastes as possible,in order to better compare and contrast. I’m also on the hunt for a good, casual beer to drink - one that’s not so complex that I get migraines from thinking about it, one cheap enough that I don’t have take a second mortgage to afford it, and one casual enough that I can really relax and enjoy it. And I may have found just such a beer, for the winter at least. Bristol Brewery, next to my college, serves up a simple but delicious beer named Winter Warlock. I’d label the figure on the label a lazy eyed reject from the Academy of Elemental Magicks, but the beer he associates with deserves a little more praise. The opaquely dark and brown color of this beer fits the taste nicely, satisfying the visual appearance of the Warlock’s delicious chocolate, molasses, coffee and toasted bread medley. Right before I had this beer I went to Bristol Brewery to pick up a growler of Laughing Lab for an end of the week celebration. The building had a distinctive smell, but I couldn’t quite describe it. If pressed I’d call it a mix of dark honey and mashed grass. Well, I later found it was the smell of the Winter Warlock, probably in full production with winter setting in. Anyway, it’s a delicious beer, but one dimensional. The first one and a half seconds is a purely sweet sensation; the frozen air, cold and silent. Then comes the bitter qualities of the stout, where the Warlock sweeps his robed arm and pushes the spears of frigid air around and through the evergreens and into your palate.

Doesn’t really taste like you’d expect. Has quite a bit of a hoppy taste for a stout - and not as smooth. Still a terrific winter beer.