Oatmeal Stout
Richbrau Brewing Company

Pours inky black, but not terribly thick. Virtually no head.

Great roast chocolate aroma. Cocoa, slight anise, thin caramel malt - but mainly chocolate.

Hits thin and takes a while for the malt to kick in. Much lighter than expected roast chocolate flavor. Wish there was more here. Bitters build well into the finish, though.

Very thin feel for the style. More reminiscent of a porter than stout. Disappointing.

Easy to drink, but not their best offering.

Appearance: Chocolate brown body with a ringlet and no lacing

Smell: Lack all the Richbrau beers, little discernable aroma; just some slight roasted notes

Taste: Roasted flavor with a touch of oats and a dry finish

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Not particularly stout-like, this would be decent oatmeal porter but it just doesn't have the richness I expect in a stout

Richbrau Oatmeal Stout, from a 22 oz bomber bottle. Opened with a pronounced snap of carbonation. Pours a deep brown color, thick and toasty. The aroma is light, with notes of oats and a bit of coffee. The head is nice, off white, but not too long lasting. The taste is, at least initially, hoppy and a wee bit of sourness, that I'm not convinced should be part of traditional oatmeal stout. There are definite notes of roasted malts, with a long lasting coffee flavor toward the end. There is a bit of vinegar here as well. The mouthfeel is thin and watery, and this brew is a bit more carbonated than it should be. Not my idea of an oatmeal stout.

Great beer, instantly reminded me of the benchmark for the style, Sam Smith's oatmeal stout. Lots of everything that makes an oatmeal stout great, and fresh from the cask I'd have a hard time picking something else over this one.

Arrived with a small head that quickly faded into oblivion and left a bit of lacing in its wake. The smell was solid, with malt and oats making their presence clearly known. Tastes like what I imagine a Sam Smith would taste like on cask.

I hope Richbrau decides to offer this from the cask with some regularity.

On the beer engine at Richbrau brewery, the cask version of this beer is dangerously drinkable. Pitch-black in appearance, with little to no head. Aromas are all roasty, toasty malt, with just a hint of chocolate underneath. Flavor is excellent. The conditioning smoothed everything out, taking away some of the dry bitterness. So easy to drink this one, especially at the bargain price of $3 per pint! A good beer that is made noticeably better by virtue of the cask conditioning. The best cask beer I've had at Richbrau thus far.

Appearance – Extremely dark in color with a modest head but one that left a permanent film over the liquid.

Smell – This is more stout and less oatmeal. The oatmeal flavor is there, but it is very subtle and mixed well with the traditional stout scents. The dark roasted coffee especially is of a high quality, and the quiet cocoa is some of the best that I’ve ever smelled.

Taste – The oatmeal came out just a bit more at the taste for me. It’s not the sweet kind that you get when you make instant oats. This stuff is heavy and soaked in a bitter, chocolate-flavored coffee mix. There is a touch of sweetness at the end, but mostly this is a hardcore stout.

Mouthfeel – This is one of the big boys. Close enough to full-bodied to call it that and dry for the style.

Drinkability – This is my kind of beer. From a guy who takes his espresso straight (no lattes, please) this is paradise. It is by far the best Oatmeal Stout that I’ve had to date.

Comments – A huge thanks to fellow BA OldFroth, who seems to have exactly the same tastes that I do. Of all the care packages, he hasn’t sent me a bad beer yet. Cheers!