OAT
Propolis Brewing

16oz can. Bottom date stamp is 'CANNED ON 05/15/24'.
Black colored body, with a very thin mahogany color back lit edge. Quick to build and quick to dissipate dark tan colored head. Remaining is an active surface storm and a thin ring. Any lacing spots slide back down into the body.
Fragrant aroma of roasted oats, savory chicory (plus coffee and chocolate), and a lighter and sweeter smell of vanilla and flowers.
Taste is earthy, savory, and with a light sweetness. Roasted oats, chicory with chocolate and coffee, floral notes, and sweet vanilla. Aftertaste turns lighter and sweeter.
Thinner mouthfeel, but with some light cream. Metallic note. Some tongue numbness. Supportive carbonation.
Well done variation on an oatmeal stout with the additions of chicory, flowers, and vanilla. Rather different but in a good way.

Pours a clear dark brown with beige foam in the Stella Artois goblet. Modest spritz and light body. Interesting woodsy aroma. Unusual flavors that add a tang and something green to the usual dark caramel notes.

I drank half the beer before I looked at the ingredients. I was not caring much for the herbal and even sourish flavors. I'd prefer either the dark and dry or the warm and roasted stouts. Or even better, an actual Oatmeal Stout. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station. No date.

Pours a dark brown color - almost black. Three finger fizzy tan head forms on the beer before quickly dissipating. No residual head remains after it dissolves. Aroma has notes of roasted malts, earthy notes, a touch of dirt, with some chicory coffee notes and just a fleeting hint of vanilla.

Taste brings notes of roasted malts, chicory coffee, some creamy malts, earthy hops notes, light vanilla bean - it's not sweet vanilla at all - and a light tangy note. There is a moderate earthy bitterness on the back end. Feel is light, somewhat thin, and very spritzy. I am no fan of the "thicc" stouts, but this one is just too thin for me. Spritzy, drier finish.

Overall it is a nice beer. The use of the foraged* ingredients makes this rather unique. I like it, but in the end Im left wanting a more full body and a stronger base stout.

16oz can (no date) poured into 16oz tulip. Poured a solid black color with 1/4 inch of brown head that had decent retention and light lacing.

The aroma had solid base grains, a touch of yeast spiciness, and some floral/earthy aspects from the dandelion and chicory. The vanilla had a very low presence.

Same on the tongue, with the vanilla having a more notable role.

The body was a bit lighter than one expects for the style, was smooth, and had a semi-sweet finish.

Drinkability was good, an easy quaff.

Overall, a solid and enjoyable brew. Worth trying if you see it.

Pours a dark cola brown color that appears black in the glass with mahogany brown on the edges, all underneath a creamy light tan head. The nose has some chocolate, a smidge of vanilla, and a LOT of the chicory that presents as roasty coffee, and an herbal note as well I’d attribute to the dandelion.

There’s a lot going on here.

The taste, though, is straightforward - a bit of chocolate and a lesser bit of vanilla, and a heaping helping of the chicory as a roasty flavor, and a significant herbal component that works really well with this oatmeal stout that pokes hard at boundaries. Absolutely love it.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, vanilla and earthy spices. Flavor is dark toasted malt, cocoa, light vanilla, chicory and bitter herbs. Dry cocoa finish with lingering chicory and herbal bitterness. Medium bodied with light creaminess. A nice, dry stout leaning to an export stout style with each to of the adjunct flavors on exhibit, cocoa, vanilla, chicory and a light, but clear bitter herb note that must be the dandelion. The body is light for an oatmeal stout, although there is a touch more creaminess than a standard dry stout. I expect some interesting herbal flavors from Propolis and this one delivers. The base stout is solidly worthy. Nice for a change.

propolis in a can?! are you kidding me. if this isnt the first one i have ever seen, than i was way too drunk before, because the stoke to see their stuff in this format is currently very really and new, and even though its clean beer and a new direction, these guys fully have my trust and support, so that this exists is really exciting, not to mention its brewed with dandelion and chicory, some neat roots that fit real well with this grain base and contribute a lot of subtlety, vanilla too according to the label, although that influences this minimally beyond a waft in the nose thankfully, its so tastefully proportioned. i have grown accustomed to rejecting vanilla stouts and porters, but what it adds here is an accent and its right. bitterness seems more from the roots than the roasted grain, how cool is that?! also, i not only feel the oats but i taste them too, hence the name, i assume. dark cocoa powder, still in powder form even, leather, anise seed, bitter leafy greens, pipe tobacco, rum raisin, white pepper, oxidized coffee grounds, wet burlap, sour bread, its all here. maybe its a tad thin, especially for an oat stout, but i would trade body for fermentation character almost any day and thats what they seem to have done with this. floral and light, especially for the style, english and old, but also modern and new, a real sense of place and terroir to this one. the thing is, i have come to a place where only beer at this level gets me excited, which is a real shame for billy bobs garage brewery amber ale or whatever, but this is where its at, increasingly hard to find, but its exactly what i stand for. a reimagined stout in this day and age where everyone copies each other ad absurdum, more like this please!

 

Pours on the light side for a stout: cola brown that turns burnt caramel at the edges when held up to the light. Nice soft looking head that settles down into scattered fuzz.

Nose is nice and crisp and stout-y. So descriptive. Creamy crisp with soft edges... I get some nice chocolate, a woody/nutty note that I attribute to the chicory, and a touch of bitter coffee. I don't get much vanilla if at all, and the dandelion root I assume is in the earthy/woody and bitter that I attribute to the chicory and coffee-type flavours.

Same on the flavour. Crisp and dry with some dark chocolate, creamy oats, dry chicory... it's just a pleasant crisp AND creamy stout.

Again, the mouthfeel is very pleasantly creamy and crisp both somehow. Dry finish. Easy drinking. I dig it (get it?).