Trafalgar Smoked Oatmeal Stout

My Bottom Line:
There is a lot smokiness to cover up this Stout’s meager body and malt development, but the flaccid mouthfeel and inherent ash-like roastiness tend to crop up once in a while.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is barely a ring of foam to decorate the blackened dark brown.
-Some dark chocolate can be found within the smoke.
-Carbonation is nearly absent, which greatly detracts from the experience and exposes the beer’s flaws quite nicely.
-Some roasted malt bitterness is felt in the end.
-All in all, this is still one of Trafalgar’s most flavorful brews I’ve had...

Bottle.

Really didn’t like this. I’m not a big fan of stouts but this tasted like an ashtray. Smokey aroma that was mildly unpleasant.

650ml bottle, dark brown color, with some reddish highlights, with a toasty, fruity raisiny, datey nose, with a faint roasted, toasted malt accent, with a mild mochaish, chocolatey note, and a very light smoked aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a yeasty, roasty malt, light smoked peaish malt character, with a faint mochaish, chocolatey accent, with a overtone winey, vinous fruity flavor, and a hint of flowery hop biterness, leading towards a mild, roasty, mochaish finish.

650ml bottle
5.0% ABV
I tried this beer in October 30, 2008 after purchasing from one of my local LCBO outlets. The beers a solid brown colour with a thin light brown head. The aroma is a little smoke, a little chocolate, and a little coffee. The mouthfeel is very weak for a stout, almost watery with mild carbonation. The flavour is roasted malt, smoke, and chicoree.

Bottle. Rust under the bottle cap and no “pop” when upcapped; no fizz on pour. Slight smoky aroma and big smoke flavour is okay but lacks finesse. That rusty cap is typical of this hit-or-miss this brewer. This one’s another miss.

Very light head. Not quite black with burgundy highlights. Aroma is a bad dirty vegetable soup. Flavour is burnt vegetable.

Bottle. Pours almost black with a medium sized, disappearing head. The aroma of smoke is not pleasant. Mouthfeel is unbelievably thin, especially for an ’oatmeal stout’. Smoke flavour is overkill, with some sweetness in the finish. I’ve never drank an oatmeal stout so thin.

Bad. For lack of a better description, it tasted like 10 people used my beer as their ashtray.