Obovoid Oak-Aged Oatmeal Stout - Boulder Beer Company, Boulder

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.

Boulder Beer Company's Obovoid is an oak-aged Oatmeal Stout that is as dark and roasted as you'd expect. My biggest compliment here would have to be that even though this beer is oaked you can still taste the oatmeal. Unfortunately, like all other Boulder beers, you can taste plenty of bitter hops. While the beer starts off nicely roasted and full of dark malt flavor but it finishes with bitter hops and a strong dry oatmeal flavor. For the most part, this beer tastes pretty good and leaves you with a nice creamy oatmeal aftertaste. If there were milder hops in this beer and a little more vanilla flavor in the finish, it'd be great... but Boulder loves their bitter hops, so I probably won't be going back for seconds of the Obovoid.