St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Stout
Montreal, Canada

Finally got my hands on one of these, and what a worthwhile search it was. Pours dark brown, near black,with cappucino foam head. Bittersweet chocolate is the theme here, both in the nose and flavor. Chocolatey sweet malts present themselves in the middle, and roasty bitterness and hops balance out the finish. Well done. Mild astringency is present from the oatmeal, and on the whole this beer isn't quite as smooth as one might expect, but its still a top notch stout.

Opaque black. Grayish-tan foam with excellent retention. The nose is full of intense roastiness with buttery notes, ink, plums, cardboard, and chocolate. Silky, oily in feel with some sharp spritz. A myriad of flavors from beginning to end: intense coffee middle increases to the finish, alongside coconut, raisin, and flaky roasted barley. The finish shows a sufficient amount of oatmeal goodness, which I always seek in the style but never find, with a complex mix of mocha, caramel, lactose, and drying hints of charcoal dryness. Runs neck and neck with El Toro and Samuel Smith’s. A real beauty.

This is truly an amazing beer. It is black with a chocolate coloured head. Very toasty, bitter, chocolate, one of the finest beers in the world.

Big thanks to radiomgb for shipping this to me as a bonus beer..... one hell of a bonus beer. Pours very dark brown with a tight burnt orange head. The aroma has milk chocolate, creamy roasted chocolate malt, coffee bitterness and vanilla - very lush, rich and wonderful. The body it s bit heavier than medium body with some gentle prickly carbonation on the finish. The flavor starts with coffee, dark chocolate, bitter roasted malt, light sharp fruit flavors and a good deal of char. The finish is sharper with some spicy hops in the mix and some light chocolate traits. There is some woodiness that comes through as it warms up. This is one huge beer for only being 5% alcohol. If I lived in Canada this beer would have a permanent place in my beer fridge. Massive thumbs up for undoubtedly the best oatmeal stout I’ve had.

Pitch black, rapidly fading creamy choco mousse head. Smells like it has more alky than 5%. A little alarming on the olfactory and it makes me brace for that kind of flavor impact. However, the initial flavors are more laid back. Mild black coffee and perhaps some bitter choco flavors. Well behaved on the palate. No hint of impy stout rudeness. Slightly roasty bitter yet enjoyable. Fun to drink and experience. Mildly bitter back of throat flavors do not linger much.

Pours black with a dark mocha head. Dense, smoky aroma. The flavor mirrors the aroma with chocolate and espresso trying to come out from behind the thick curtain of smoky malts. A bit thin on the palate for a beer with such a complex flavor thing going on. The smokyness is a bit out of balance to me, making this a very good beer, but one that is not fully qualified to be rated as a top 50 beer.

Bottled -- Rich, highly roasted malt aroma, some dark coffee, molasses, semi-sweet chocolate and a very faint vinous quality. Deep, opaque black color, with a foamy, rocky light brown head, subsiding and some extremely delicate lacing. Thick, malty, dark, roasty flavor profile, some toffeeish sweetness, bitter coffee, dark chocolate, hazelnut and just a hint of fruity plum and earthiness. Medium-full body and thick, coating texture. Some light acidity and moderate roasty bitterness on the finish. Very flavorful and satisfying rendition, quite nice.

Original rating, draught -- Standard nitro stout head, which is to say unnaturally thick and small bubbled, medium dun in color. Thick-looking dark black-brown in color. Slightly malty aroma, nitrogen is definitely apparent and seems to leave something of it's own mark to the detriment of the rest of the aroma. Super creamy beer. Oatmeal gives a very Samuel Smith-ian character to this one, flavor-wise. No tingle or real bitterness on the palate, and with a medium body. Rich, roasted oat taste, with some fruit, perhaps currant? Just so roasty! Some bready malt and light cocoa. Tastes pretty good but nitro ruins the palate and a few other things about the beer. I have a feeling I would have liked the bottled version much better, but I didn't see the tap spigot before I ordered it. 5/4/8/3/15 - 3.5

Bottled. Pours an opaque blackish brown with a lingering light brown head laden with lace. Coffee, chocolate and roasty malts in the nose. Full, creamy body with light carbonation. Tastes of coffee, dark chocloate, vanilla and malt. Lingering espresso-bitter finish.