Browns Oatmeal Stout

Mostly opaque black pour. Minimal lace surrounds the light tan head. The first impression after smelling is of wax - it,s hard to find that appealing in a stout. Sweetish and bready example with a fair toasted malt background, but little roastiness. Powdery ashes tones are perceived, but it,s subtle and remains bready more than anything. Light-medium bodied. Dull malts and hopless.

Draught sample at the brewpub. Touch of head doesn’t last long at all atop a translucent dark brown body....luscious chocolaty aroma, hints of rum and dark nutty liqueurs, a bit milky with light roast, overall excellently balanced....on the tongue, dry, thin and fairly flavorless, with a touch of sour cherry, dry wood chips, a bit of stale chocolate and some sour milk towards the finish....thin, undercarbonated, overattenuated, this was a disappointment given the overall strong quality of the beers on this occasion.

My Bottom Line:
Toasted bread and delicate yeasty fruitiness carve a landscape between the Brown Ale world and that of Stouts. Not that it is badly brewed, but this is just not what I want from a Stout of any kind.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slim veil of foam tops the brownish black.
-Earthiness accompanies the toasted malt character; roastiness is strangely frail.
-The body is thin and the carbonation fizzy; again, not much of a Stout in the mouthfeel department.
-The finish is a fast fade out of the flavor profile.

On tap at the brewpub.

Coffee in the aroma after something funky subsides. Dark brown, clear body with no head. Some roastiness apparent. Very dry and lacking flavour. Thin body and watery mouthfeel. On tap at the brewpub.

on tap-pours a brown head with black color. Aroma is dark malt, oatmeal. Taste is dark malt, oatmeal, coffee, bitterness at the finish.