Oatmeal Stout

I consider myself a Rauch Geek so of course I had to try a bottle of Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast. Mikkeller's Breakfast series of Stouts all have a basic Oatmeal Stout with coffee underpinnings with each iteration dressed up with some exotic ingredient like Civet weasel coffee beans, Brandy barrel aging or smoked malt. I lived in Bamberg, Germany for a year and really enjoyed the local Rauchbier there. The Smoke Beer in the US isn't quite the same though, the Germans do a salty bacon style of smoke but American brewers seem to prefer a campfire flavored smoke. I'm firmly in the bacon flavored camp and I've heard Rauch Geek Breakfast is a beer that I'd enjoy for that same reason.

I try to a point of reviewing beers that I haven't had before, or at least I haven't drank many times before. Every once in a while though, a beer like Founders Breakfast Stout slips through. This is a beer I've had at least a dozen times, mostly bottled but I've had it on tap a handful of times. I first had this beer about a year and a half ago at a birthday lunch for a good friend of mine. I later went out and bought a few bottles, drank them and then eagerly awaited the return of Breakfast Stout this year. After drinking through a four pack of Breakfast Stout it finally occurred to me that I'd never done a formal review for this beer...

Oh Hoppin' Frog, how did I ever live without you? It's only been 8 months or so since you started distributing here but it seems like we've known each other forever. Your Wee Heavy was a surprise and your B.O.R.I.S. exceeded expectations. I've only had a few of Hoppin' Frog's beer but they have been nothing less than stellar. Tonight I've opened a bottle of Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S., an Oatmeal Imperial Stout that was aged in Whiskey barrels. Having had the regular B.O.R.I.S. I knew roughly what to expect, and I was really excited to open this beer up.

Free State is a small brew pub in the town of Lawrence, Kansas. Known more for its Jayhawks than its beer, Lawrence is not a frequent stop for me by any means. I've never had a bad time at Free State, and I've been probably twenty or more times in the past four years. Free State has a great dinner menu on top of having a respectable number of house brews on tap. My one complaint with Free State has always been the location. I hate Kansas, I hate the University of Kansas, I hate the Jayhawks and I hate all things "Rock Chalk" ... so when I go to Lawrence it's usually to stop at Free State, then maybe go to a concert... but that's it. There's really only one reason I go to Lawrence anymore, the beer. But I really hate Kansas... Luckily for me Free State recently started bottling its beer, which is how this Oatmeal Stout found its way to me, in the form of a six pack of longnecks.

I'm finally opening this bottle of St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout after it was mentioned by a fellow beer connoisseur. I originally picked up this bottle back in December and it's been sitting in my basement beer fridge for about nine months now. I enjoy Oatmeal Stouts quite a bit but, being summer, it didn't seem like a the best time to drink something quite this dark. That's been my excuse since at least March... Well, I've finally gotten around to opening it up and it seems like I've really been missing out.

Boulder Beer's lineup has been a bit of a gamble thus far... I found this bottle of Obovoid on sale the other day and decided I'd roll the dice one more time. The Obovoid is part of the Looking Glass series of special release beers Boulder Beer puts out on a seasonal basis. My experience so far has been that the Looking Glass beers are certainly bigger but not always better... The Obovoid hasn't really changed my opinion of the Looking Glass series, or for that matter, Boulder Beer Company in general.

I debated whether or not to include this as one of this year's Jingle Beers because there isn't anything terribly festive about an Oatmeal Stout that's been spiked with blueberries. Since Buffalo Bill's Brewery only releases this during the winter months I figured I'd go ahead and include it anyways. Oatmeal Stouts are great, hearty beers with thick textures and dark flavors... so I'm not sure exactly how the addition of tart blueberries would work here. When I was pouring this beer I just about forgot that what was so special about it. This beer looks like a plain stout, it's black with a thin off-white head. When I went in closer I could smell those blueberries rolling out of the pint glass.

For a beer as dark as this Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is really quite well balanced. Pouring this into a pint glass the first thing you'll notice is that this beer is pretty much pitch black. As the glass fills up you'll see the head go from a dark brown color to an off white creme color. You'd be forgiven if you expected this beer to be a bitter mess of chalky or burnt malted grain. Sam Smith's beers are usually a pleasantly mellow surprise, and this is no exception. Despite being darker than dark, this beer has a pretty mellow flavor profile. You will notice the bitter component stand out a bit, but that's just part of being a Stout. Looking past the bitterness you'll notice a faintly sweet caramel note and hints of dark chocolate. All in all, this is a pleasant dark beer. Definitely a Stout you can drink before the thermometer falls below sixty. This is worth picking up but it may bore the more adventurous dark beer drinkers.