Santa Cruz Ale Works Dark Night Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Santa Cruz Ale Works
Style: Stout
Santa Cruz, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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Santa Cruz Ale Works Dark Night Oatmeal Stout is a dark ruby black ale with a brown sugar colored, gel-topped dense foam that has outstanding retention and lacing. There is deep roast in the aroma with notes of oatmeal cookies, raisins and chocolate chips. It is medium bodied and very dry with an acidic finish. It’s sweet at first, with notes of chocolate and berry. The finish is long and bitter. It kind of tastes like oatmeal cookies. It’s bitter, dry and full flavored. I’m impressed.

On tap at Whale City Bakery Bar & Grill in Davenport, CA. Opaque, black brown with fine, creamy tan head and excellent lacing. Aroma of toasted coffee, chocolate and dark, smoky malt. Taste sweet, toasted dark malt and coffee. Medium to light body with ample carbonation and a creamy, foamy mouthfeel. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

22oz - Nice color and lace. Palate was good but a little too light in flavor.

Bottle. Black pour but not thick. Tan head. Nose is dark roast coffee and a little vanilla extract. Taste is a mouthful of roast and bittesweet chocolate. Palate isn’t as big as I would have thought but the flavor is full even though this is quite drinkable. The body more closely resembles a porter but the flavor is robust enough that you know you are drinking a stout. Enjoyable and drinkable.

Poured from bottle a dark brown with large tan head. Aroma is mostly chocolate with some soft grain tones. Flavor starts smooth with some slightly sweet malt, chocolate and a light graininess. The finish becomes dry with a roasted grain bitterness. Palate is silky at the beginning and slightly sweet moving toward bitter and dry, but not a big mouthfeel however. Overall, an easy drinking stout with a nice balance that could do with a little more presence on the palate.

Pour was pretty dark and the head overtook half the glass, was a little surprised. The aroma was a little harsh imo. The taste was just about average with more carbonation than I like to see from an oatmeal stout. This beer didn’t do much for me.

This is a nice one. Black with a tan head. Aromas of rich chocolate, malt, and a splash of black coffee. Flavor is a bit thin after the rich aroma, but is still quite tasty. Very bitter, with the coffee coming through in the finish. Not much sweetness, even though it’s supposed to be a sweet stout. Either they didn’t use much oatmeal, or something. Palate is a bit on the thin side. I bet this tastes great on tap.

Thin and lacks body/mouthfeel. Flavor is far from dark or stout. Suggestion: AVOID

Pours a dark black-brown with a huge five finger foamy tan head which fades very slowly to crazy lacing. Aroma is light for a stout and is of roasted malts, some coco powder, faint coffee notes, maybe some anise, and a faint metallic note. Taste is slightly better then the aroma and is of roasted malts, chocolate, dark coffee, some anise, some dark fruits, a little mild hop bitterness. Has a medium body with a slightly thin, watery, fizzy mouthfeel, and a slightly bitter,short, slightly metallic finish. Overall, a decent oatmeal stout that is lacking in body and could be better without the metallic notes in the aroma and finish.

Bomber. Black pour with a thick quickly dissipating dark tan head. Aroma is espresso, and dark caramel, toasted malts. Taste is espresso, dark chocolate, and smoke. Mouthfeel is a nice velvety smooth.