Beer 223/365 – Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout

Style: Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 8.0%

Purchased at: Maybe Siciliano’s in Grand Rapids Michigan? I can’t remember ha.

What makes this beer different: One of the heaviest Oatmeal Stout’s I have ever had.

Will I be drinking this again: Yes, I hear they are selling in PA soon so thats a plus.

Grade: A-

6/19/2010: I think its official; Dark Horse is my favorite brewery. Every single beer of theirs that I have tried has been very unique, and very tasty. Plus I love the whole rustic/rural setting of their brewery/brewpub. If you haven’t seen what it looks like check out my brewery tour write up for some pictures.

This beer smells very very roasted, lots of coffee smell going on here. The taste is intense for an oatmeal stout. Almost a neck and neck race between dark roast coffee, and bittersweet chocolate, with vanilla lagging way way behind in last place. This beer is very sweet, but its kept in check by the burnt/roast flavor that the coffee is giving. Very heavy mouthfeel for an Oatmeal stout, but thats perfect for me because I love heavy beers. Not sure if you get Dark Horse beer in your area, but if you don’t be sure you try to trade for some. It will be worth it.

Picture of the day: Digging up the past.

Beer 152/365 – New Glarus Road Slush

Style: Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 6.2%

Purchased at: Given to me by Chris

What makes this beer different: Very caramely for an oatmeal stout

Will I be drinking this again: Again if New Glarus had better distribution I would

Grade: B+

4/9/2010: Thanks again to Chris for more New Glarus. Now if he could just find me some of their iced barleywine… SO good. Tried a couple ounces at a tasting last month, and it was one of the best barleywines I have ever had.

Road Slush is a pretty creative name for a stout with so many smells/flavors going on. Lots of caramel and roast in the nose, and the flavor was much of the same. A lot of roasty flavor, with almost as much caramel flavor to go with it. A little bit of chocolate appears at the end also. Do I taste mint too? Am I looking too far into this? Great combination of flavors regardless. Typical Oatmeal Stout mouthfeel/carbonation.

Picture of the day: Oh man, Nick this goes out to you. We used to always stack all kinds of stuff on our friends Guy/Nick in college, but this one is pretty damn funny.

Beer 141/365 – Tyranena Down ‘N Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Style: Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 6.3%

Purchased at: A Pint w/Chris

What makes this beer different: Heavy for an Oatmeal stout

Will I be drinking this again: Yes, Chris brought me back a 4 pack

Grade: A-

3/29/2010: Longest beer name ever? It is the longest of my 141 beers so far thats for sure. Thanks to Chris for bringing this with him to AC Beerfest. He lives in what I would say is the best beer purchasing state in the country; Wisconsin. They get pretty much every good brewery there, Three Floyds, Goose Island, West Coast beers, all the good Michigan beer… etc etc.

The smell has a ton of chocolate in it, but the taste does not. The taste is a lot of roast, some coffee, and a tiny hint of chocolate. To be honest if I didn’t know this was an Oatmeal stout I would have thought it was a regular American Stout, but it did still have a nice amount of smoothness to it. Reason being is the mouthfeel was a lot thicker than an average oatmeal stout, but it was still “airy”. The best comparison I can draw is the mouthfeel was kind of like a marshmallow, big but still light. That made this beer very unique.

Picture of the day: Social Media explained to people from the past .

Beer 117/365 – Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout

Style: Oatmeal Stout

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman OH

What makes this beer different: This beer is the benchmark for Oatmeal Stouts in my opinion.

Will I be drinking this again: For sure.

Grade: A

3/5/2010: I worked up a nice little stash of Sam Smith’s beer that is just waiting to be drunkened. It’s so damn inexpensive at Vintage Estate that I went a bit crazy the first time I visited and bought 6/7 different ones.

Smell is dark malt and some sweetness. Taste is so smooth. This to me is what an Oatmeal Stout should taste like. Roasted malt, a slight creamy taste, coffee flavor, some earthiness, and a bit of caramel. The mouth-feel is what really makes this, thick for an Oatmeal Stout, but so damn smooth. This is also a good gateway beer to get your non-craft beer friends into stouts.

Picture of the day: God loves macaroni & cheese.

Beer 67/365 – Goose Island Oatmeal Stout

Style: Oatmeal Stout

Purchased at: Sicilianos Market – Chicago, IL

What makes this beer different: Pretty typical Oatmeal Stout

Will I be drinking this again:Hard to find ’round these parts so probably not.

Grade: B+

1/14/2010: I can’t believe this if the first beer out of 67 that is an Oatmeal stout, especially because stouts are my favorite style. This is also my first bottled beer from Goose Island so I am pretty excited to try it. I do have a Bourbon County Stout aging in the basement, the temptation to crack that one open is strong.

Overall this is a pretty typical oatmeal stout. Smells like bittersweet chocolate and oats, the taste is slightly roasty, some bittersweet chocolate, creamy oatmeal, and a bit of vanilla. Very creamy mouthfeel. My only complaint with this beer is that about halfway down the alcohol starts to jump out at you a little, which is odd for a 5.1% alcohol beer.

Funny Picture of the day: Not sure what this kid said, but it must have been insulting