Breakfast Stout
Arbor Ales
- From:
- Arbor Ales
- England, United Kingdom
- Style:
- Oatmeal Stout
Ranked #134 - ABV:
- 7.4%
- Score:
- 88
Ranked #17,513 - Avg:
- 3.98 | pDev: 6.78%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 5
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 22, 2025
- Added:
- Oct 19, 2013
- Wants:
- 1
- Gots:
- 2
SCORE
88
Very Good
88
Very Good
Silky smooth Oatmeal Stout with evocative notes of coffee and luxurious bittersweet chocolate.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by TGS:
Rated by TGS from California
3.8/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Mar 12, 2017
3.8/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Mar 12, 2017
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Spike from England
3.1/5 rDev -22.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
3.1/5 rDev -22.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
Imperial pint (568ml) can.
L: Black with two fingers of beige head.
S: Dark roasted coffee, tending towards burnt.
T: Over-extracted espresso and cocoa nibs. Becomes increasingly bitter.
F: Way thin mouthfeel for an oatmeal stout. Moderate carbonation.
O: Very dry coffee stout with a disappointing mouthfeel. Absolutely no sense of decadence for the 7.4% alc vol. Didn’t finish.
Mar 22, 2025L: Black with two fingers of beige head.
S: Dark roasted coffee, tending towards burnt.
T: Over-extracted espresso and cocoa nibs. Becomes increasingly bitter.
F: Way thin mouthfeel for an oatmeal stout. Moderate carbonation.
O: Very dry coffee stout with a disappointing mouthfeel. Absolutely no sense of decadence for the 7.4% alc vol. Didn’t finish.
Reviewed by phildo79 from Northern Ireland
4.13/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.13/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is an excellent stout from Arbor. Rate this brewery highly. I have yet to have a poor beer from them. Really nice coffee and choc taste going on. I echo another poster's comments on the thin mouthfeel. I have certainly had thinner but it could do with a bit more body, given the oatmeal and ABV. But overall a really nice stout and a pretty good attempt at replicating 'The Daddy' of all breakfast stouts.
May 05, 2019
Reviewed by Bruno74200 from France
4.04/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.04/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Very dark, almost no head
Big coffee presence in the smell, almost green
The taste is also about coffee but the cocoa shows itself a bit more
The mouthfeel is a bit thin for a 7.6% abv stout and not that silky despite the oat presence
Overall it's enjoyable but not the best breakfast stout I've had
Nov 01, 2017Big coffee presence in the smell, almost green
The taste is also about coffee but the cocoa shows itself a bit more
The mouthfeel is a bit thin for a 7.6% abv stout and not that silky despite the oat presence
Overall it's enjoyable but not the best breakfast stout I've had
Rated by CwrwAmByth from England
3.75/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.75/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
7.4%
Jan 18, 2017
Reviewed by DJ-Hophead from England
4.24/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.24/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Tap at Arbor Ales, Bristol - Pours jet black with a small tanned head. Medium carbonation.Nice lacing. Aroma - roasted coffee and malt notes. Taste - sweet, smooth, coffee, light malts, light bitter finish. Lovely forward coffee stout.
Aug 27, 2016
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England
4.31/5 rDev +8.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.31/5 rDev +8.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Bottled and possibly bottle conditioned
A lot of thought has gone into this beer - we’ve been working on the recipe for well over a year! So, it started out as an Imperial Stout. How about a few oats? How about a hell of a lot of oats?! Some smoked malt maybe - just a little. All good so far. A few specialty German grains should round off the mash quite nicely. Then onto the boil. With our very own coffee roaster here in Bristol, it seemed a shame not to use them. We played around with a few samples from Brian Wogan Coffee and finally settled on some freshly roasted Brazilian Santos beans. Awesome coffee! Just needed something a bit chocolaty to finish it off. How about some chocolate? How about some organic raw cacao nibs?! Job done. Just a long slow fermenation and conditioning period and the result is outstanding.
Mar 19, 2014A lot of thought has gone into this beer - we’ve been working on the recipe for well over a year! So, it started out as an Imperial Stout. How about a few oats? How about a hell of a lot of oats?! Some smoked malt maybe - just a little. All good so far. A few specialty German grains should round off the mash quite nicely. Then onto the boil. With our very own coffee roaster here in Bristol, it seemed a shame not to use them. We played around with a few samples from Brian Wogan Coffee and finally settled on some freshly roasted Brazilian Santos beans. Awesome coffee! Just needed something a bit chocolaty to finish it off. How about some chocolate? How about some organic raw cacao nibs?! Job done. Just a long slow fermenation and conditioning period and the result is outstanding.
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!