The Rusty Nail
Fremont Brewing Company

Poured into a snifter - dark black pour, not quite jet black but very dark. Lite lacing appearing.
Getting aromas of malts, cinnamon, chocolate, molasses, bourbon.
Tastes follow the nose with a very rich sweetness behind this. Burnt brown sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, licorice, dark fruits such as cherries, figs, apricots, slight coffee and bourbon.
Feel is medium to medium heavy. Not to thick/ oily. Very good feel. Sipper, very easy sipper.
Overall this is a very great beer and I can see why it's ranked number one on here. Easily the best oatmeal barrel aged stout I've had. Cheers.

 

 

2017 vintage bottle consumed on 2/4/23 at a bottle share. Held up quite well; drank velvety smooth and had good flavours of which cinnamon was picked up the most with light licorice notes.

12/15/2019

 

Look: Black with the thinnest of brown heads. Very viscous

Smell: Barrel, chocolate, malty, dark fruit

Taste: Follows the nose, chocolate and fruit on the front, followed by malt and barrel

Feel: Super viscous, with just a hint of carbonation

Looks as you'd expect, dark & opaque. Little carbonation or head.
Nose is complex with licorice, cocoa, cinnamon & a smokey note.
Taste follows nose with cherries added & a wee bit of bourbon barrel.
Mouthfeel is thick due to smoked barley & oats. Luscious, really.
Cherries are quite bright in the finish
A very well balanced stout.

 

Pours ink black and no discerning head.
Chocolate, pastry,spice
Smooth chocolate and cinnamon and also licorice.
Medium feel and smooth long finish.
Flavors work wonderfully together at 55 deg. And while warming up.

 

 

 

2022 edition - 13.6% ABV - poured from a 22oz waxed bomber into a snifter.

Seal brown body with a rouse-able dun/desert sand event horizon; good retention for what's there; fine sandy lacing, sticky thin tears.

Cocoa, molasses, cinnamon, baked oatmeal, sugar (demerara with hints of muscovado), tobacco, vanilla, and coconut in the nose. Sweet, complex, and balanced.

The flavor follows the nose but is joined by a wave of chocolate covered cherries, plum torte, cloves, faint poblano, sweet hay, and more. Malty and rich with hints of toasted nuts and 'smores in addition to black licorice and cinnamon. Medium earthy finish with the base beer shining through like the best oatmeal cookie you've had. Hints of ceylon tea at times. Low bitterness throughout. Flavors are not quite integrated - curious how this would age.

Slick, oily, full-bodied mouthfeel, low tannins, and lush carbonation. Well hidden ABV.

For me this falls just a little short of perfection with the emphasis on spices and a finish that is just a tiny bit too sweet.

Look -fantastic black great tan head and incredible rimming lacing
Smell - chocolate cinnamon barrel with slight black licorice
Taste -cinnamon licorice barrel chocolate
Feel -creamy full body light carb
Overall - really complex great stout

 

Pours a dark color with a slight dark tan head and lacing
Aroma has licorice and Bourbon hints
The taste follows the nose with a pleasant licorice and Bourbon flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated smooth beer
A great Bourbon Stout

 

2022 batch, 13.6% ABV.

Pours a nearly pitch-black color. Befitting a huge, barrel-aged monster, there isn't much head, just a tan collar topping it off.

The aroma, though, is out of this world good. The focus here is on roasted malt, espresso, licorice, and baker's cocoa. A light touch of smoke gives it another layer of depth. There's a tiny hint of cinnamon lingering around, which is good: too much cinnamon would have hurt its chances at greatness. And of course, the assertive bourbon barrels can't be overlooked. Tons of oak, vanilla, and bit of corn shine through.

While the taste doesn't follow the nose super-close, it's wonderful in its own way. It starts off with a nice, sweet cinnamon flavor lacking the bitter spice of other (frankly lesser) cinnamon-adorned beers. Same with the bourbony finish: it's subtle yet noticeable, without being massively assertive. Dark chocolate, espresso, roast, and licorice round out the middle - again, enough to make you think, but not enough to overpower. There's a ton of stuff going on with this one, and actually coalesces together into something harmonious and complex instead of complicated and sloppy. The more I consume, the more I love it, therefore it earns an elusive 5 taste-wise.

It's not as texturally slick or slimy as other big oatmeal stouts, but by no means is it bone-dry. I could use a touch more body and thickness, but that's me nitpicking for the sake of picking nits. It's still as creamy and decadent as one could want from a monster barrel-aged stout. Carbonation is low, but it doesn't need much anyways since the oak tannins cleanse the palate decently.

I'm always that guy saying beer X doesn't live up to the hype or wondering how the hell beer Y earned a 100. This, though, this lives up to the hype and then some. It's one of the most complex stouts I've ever sampled, and - like I said - isn't complex in a "some is good, therefore too much is even better" kind of way. It's wonderfully cohesive and well-rounded in a way stouts not even a fourth as deep are. An absolute masterpiece, seek it out yesterday!

 

 

 

 

 

Look: like an imp stout should. Deep and dark. Some slight ruby/cola highlights around the edges when held to light. Modest mocha head on the pour that mostly recedes. Some oily, messy lacing that doesn’t stick around long.
Smell: cinnamon up front on a bed of roasty, bourbon, dark chocolate.
Taste: cinnamon and chocolate sweetness up front, countered by a nice roasty, slightly bitter char in the finish.

 

Sampling this 2021 vintage 22 oz bottle poured into my trusty snifter. Beer is part of a swap with @Resistance88 thank you!
The beer pours a thick , jet black coffee color with a dense brown head foaming up about 2 cm and gently cresting over the edge of my glass. No spillage out and no light passing through either. Looks the part of an imperial stout for sure.
the dense creamy head fades slowly to a sturdy surface covering and leaves dense coating lattice on each sip or swirl of the glass.
The aroma on this beer is complex and enticing, there is some dark chocolate and a bit of roasted malts and almost charred note. I also definitely get cinnamon, but its not artificial like Big Red, very earthy cinnamon note. Also some bourbon notes come through here. I dont get licorice that is on the label, which is okay as I dont tend to like anice/licorice aroma or flavor too much. I dont get any booze here which is impressive at 13.3%. Also not much if anything for a hop profile on the nose.

First sip reveals a full, thick body with soft gentle and fine carbonation. Beer feels nice on my palate and does give a bit of a coating on my lips with each sip.
Flavor follows the notes advertised on the nose. I get dark chocolate and some bourbon with hints of dark chocolate rolling through. Some warming and earthy cinnamon pops up, and this flavor lingers along with a bit of warmth, or is THAT the abv which was hidden on the nose?? Not really any char or heavy roast notes here. The bourbon does come back very dominant on the burps. Hops, we dont need no stinkin hops! I dont get any on the flavor profile.
So the warmth could be booze or cinnamon, its not hot, just slightly warm.
The beer does drink pretty easy for its heft and I do enjoy it a lot. I got a second bottle of another beer to open after this, but I may just sip this one all night.
Very good brew!

 

 

 

Pour as black as black can be and the light brown head was sparse, short and faded quickly.
The aroma spoke more of bourbon than oatmeal, which is typical, (Oatmeal generally affects to feel more than the flavor for me in most cases) but I wasn't sure what to expect. The malts were very present, rich and deep. Strong coffee, cinnamon and bakers cocoa all made their appearance.
Taste followed, no new surprises awaited me except the sheer level of flavors that came at me. The prior BA stout today I could have (and would have) consumed a bomber of, but this one somehow go through to me rational mind that finishing it tonight would not be wise. So I'm testing the bottle sealer that so many have recommended.
The feel was pretty typical BA stout, as the bottle was from 2019 it may have lost a bit of it's carbonation but that didn't spoil anything for me.

A - Pours a motor oil black with a thin tan head. Nice head retention with a good amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is dark chocolate, cinnamon, black licorice, molasses and bourbon.

T - The taste is dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, roasted malts and bourbon barrel.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Velvety mouthfeel with a soft dry finish.

O - Top notch bba oatmeal stout.

i think i expected this to be mind blowing given my love in skinnamon. maybe i wanted more sweetness due to the molasses. anyway, i thought this would be 101% up my alley, and, while it way, it didnt quite live up to my exorbitant expectations. the beer was extremely drinkable. i really enjoyed it, but, alas, i found myself wanting it to be better. im definitely not poopoo-ing it as it was goddam delicious. ill ramble more tomorrow. maybe.

 

A glorious black body with virtually no head, a thin ring coats the glass. It could not smell prettier: cinnamon, chocolate, caramel, vanilla & bourbon. Mildly sweet with lots of alcohol heat. Plenty of lovely flavor, exactly as promised by its aroma. Velvety smooth feel with mild carbonation. Extremely delicious!

Pours jet black. Amazing complex & sweet aroma. Dominated by cinnamon, bourbon, chocolate & roasty. Taste is insanely well balanced -- cinnamon, dark chocolate, caramel, licorice, bourbon and roasted oaks. Medium+ mouthfeel. Not quite full bodied. Absolutely incredible oatmeal stout.

 

22oz bomber
2021 Limited Release, 12.3%
L: jet black stout with a thinner brown head
S: roast, black licorice, cinnamon, bourbon, oak, dark chocolate, caramel
T: crazy complexity and balance: dark chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, black licorice, boozy bourbon, oak, vanilla, oats, smoke, roasted barley, molasses, cherry, raisin, char, earthy hops
F: full body, ample carbonation, a boozy sipper, sweeter finish with some warming bourbon
O: outstanding beer - might be the most complex beer I’ve ever had. It just explodes with flavor - delicious!

2020 vintage

Alright, I've obtained the highest rated Oatmeal Stout! This title used to of course belong to Founders Breakfast Stout, but the restructuring of BA rankings shifted it to this. I am very excited to dive into this massive beast, which is also my first beer from Fremont. Let's see what this is all about

Pours pitch black with 2 fingers of dark brown head that fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

Oh man, even after 2 years the cinnamon in this thing is still super prevalent. I'm picking up on aromas of cinnamon bark, milk chocolate, caramel, toasted oak, spicy bourbon, light char and black licorice. Very earthy and raw

The earthy and spicy notes from the aroma is still present in taste, but it focuses much more on the smoother, somewhat sweet notes. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting dark chocolate, fruity coffee, earthy cinnamon, caramel, toasted oak, and light raisin. The swallow brings notes of earthy cinnamon, spicy bourbon, dark chocolate, black licorice, dark cherry, molasses, and spent coffee beans

A medium full body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a creamy and lightly zesty beer. Finishes slightly sticky but dries over time. Decadent but not overly sweet

This is a fantastic beer. It is incredibly creamy, balanced, and complex. I would love to know what this is like fresh but this is a treat regardless

2020 release, enjoyed mid-February 2022. This is a very serious beer. Wow. Been chasing it for over a decade and happy to score a few back in 2020 and sitting on them for about a year and a half. Super sweet but not cloying, roasty and smoky without being off-putting. Pretty boozy in the nose, signifying it could use even more time to mellow. Luckily I have another bottle for years down the road. So smooth and easy-drinking but SO full of complex flavors. The best flavor in the finish is roasted marshmallows, without a doubt. Such a fun beer to drink. Epic stuff.