Trafalgar Smoked Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Trafalgar Brewing
Style: Stout
Oakville, Canada

Pours a deep brown with strong garnet highlights, and no head at all. Smells strongly strongly smoky, like jerky or smoky meat. Way too strong really. Flavour is pretty thin, and again, way too much smoke. Not much else present at all. Mouthfeel is really thin and watery, and there’s no carbonation hardly, which is not that appealing in this beer. All in all, way too much smoke, and nowhere near enough body. Fairly poor, really.

650mL bomber from the LCBO. I somehow convinced myself it was worth buying this. I was wrong. Pours a pitiful looking dark dark brown with almost zero head. Pretty sad, though at least without the usual nauseating vinegar aroma of most beers from this brewer. Synthetic smoke on top of not a whole lot else. Taste the same, with some weird sourness in the finish, though no where near as bad as this brewery’s other offerings. Generally I don’t think stouts are supposed to be tart or acidic. Not well made, not a good beer, though PASSABLE by Trafalagar standards. I can’t believe Trafalgar Brewing hasn’t just gone belly-up as a business.

The aroma is very muted with light smoke, tart fruit and roasted malt notes. There is also a little whiff of eggs that can’t be intended. The body is dark brown, not quite full black, and holds a thumb thick mostly creamy tan head. Very tart, tangy fore tastes of lightly smoked apples. Very low roast notes. Acidic and sour finish. Very odd.

Bottle shared by bgburdman: Pours a dark brown with a tan head. Aroma, smoke, oats, and some roasted notes. Flavor, slight smokiness, some chocolate, oats, dark fruits, some roasted malts, not bad.

Bouteille 650ml, courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur noire-oruge et claire. Nez de malt rôti doux, léger de chocolat (légèrement lactique) et de houblon floral avec des notes de café, d’épices (muscade) ainsi que des traces métalliques et de fumée de bois. Mince en bouche avec un pétillement moyen-fort et une texture légèrement crémeuse et aqueuse. Notes de chocolat au lait (légèrement lactique) accompagné de faibles notes épicées (muscade) ainsi que de traces d’un goût rappelant le beurre ors de l’entrée en bouche suivi très rapidement d’un goût moyennement amer de malt rôti ainsi que de notes de chocolat noir puis en finale l’on retrouve un moyen goût de café sucré accompagné d’un léger goût de houblon herbeux (notes florales) ainsi que des notes de noix asséchantes et de fumée de bois. Post-goût moyen et aux notes sèches, moyennement amer de rôti (petites notes brûlées) avec un léger goût de café et de houblon herbeux ainsi que des notes de chocolat et de fumée (traces métalliques).

I enjoyed the aroma and initial smoky aroma but I agree that it doesn’t last. I found it curious that there was little carbonation and almost no head on the beer. I enjoyed this and will have it again.

Pours a dark brown color with a faint reddish hue along the edges of the glass. Short-lived, somewhat sickly chocolate brown colored head of soapy bubbles. Strong smoky sweet aroma, similar to a Rauchbier like Spezial. While strong initially, the smoke is disappointedly short-lived. Buttery roasted almond nuttiness and flaked oats. Flavor is mostly dominated by roasty bitterness, with a bit of metallic oat flakiness. Hints of roasted coffee. A bit of smoke on the finish until the bitterness asserts itself again. Thin bodied, but with a bit of syrup slickness. For a beer with this relatively low abv, I didnt find it very quaffable. The bitterness in the flavor really kept me from enjoying this too much. A nice enough aroma, that just doesnt deliver in the taste.

Appearance: Dark chocolate brown, little to no head which dies quick. Aroma: Light smoke, roasty chocolate malt, light floral hop aroma. Rootbeer (vanilla?) Flavour: Thin and roasty, acidic and smokey. Lingering unpleasant smoked kipper flavour. Good chocolate character though. Mouthfeel: Thin bodied and low carbonation. Overall: Acidic and lightly sour. Smoke character is distictly fishy. More carbonation might help a bit.