Shakespeare Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Big Axe Brewery and B&B

From a 473ml can dated 08/12/25. Served in a tulip glass.

Pours oak brown-black with warm highlights and a finger-plus of soft, latte-like suds. The head stands up for a couple of minutes, slowly settling back into a sudsy cap with a heavy, creamy collar.

Nose is malty and nutty, with aromas of raisins and dark chocolate.

Taste is dry and roasty with charred bitterness. Tasting chicory and burnt toast, dry, dark and dusty cocoa powder, a bit of dried apricot and a whiff of sandalwood.

Feel is silky and maybe just a little light-bodied relative to the style. Drinks smaller than its stated 6% abv and doesn’t really come off as an oatmeal stout until the very end where there’s a little slickness.

Overall, a very good, highly drinkable stout if maybe lacking some of the expected (to me) character of an oatmeal stout. I loved the dry charred bitterness without even a hint of sweetness. A most excellent campfire beer.

Sampling a 16 oz (473ml) can picked up at the store and in the fridge since. The beer is date stamped 5/16/2023.
Pouring into my sample cup at cold temperature. The beer pours a rich dark coffee color with a creamy tan head of 1 cm foaming up in my cup. this foam does fade to a sturdy surface covering a few minutes after the pour. There is a good amount of tight lacing on the cup as the beer fades.
the aroma on this beer is a little milder than I expected, but I do get some bakers chocolate, roasted malts, and hints of char. Not really any hop notes, and the ABV is pretty well hidden at this point.
First sip reveals a medium body with fine gentle and rolling carbonation. very soft texture on this beer, but not quite cask-like.
Flavor is roasted malt, and roasted malt, a little char and dark dark cacao chocolate. This is a dark beer with NO sweetness to it. There isnt any sense of hop character and the ABV is completely hidden.
this has the flavor profile of an old school stout and the lower ABV, makes it fairly approachable. I like this one.

Dark brown with a thick head. Rich, bready nose. Medium malt body with a smooth oatmeal mouthfeel. Lovely and filling.

 

 

Nice dark ruby stout. Cream texture with nice chocolate notes, however, they are masked by the fragrant, delicious coffee tones this beer has to offer. One of the best oatmeal stouts I've had.

Serving Type: 500 mL pour into a Nonic Pint Glass at The Snooty Fox in Fredericton, NB.

A- Pours a Jet Black, opaque hue topped by a thin film of tan head. Relatively disappointing head/head retention, but a good looking brew nonetheless. Light tan lacing on the glass.

S- Dark, roasty malt accompanied by dark chocolate and a cream-esque sweetness.

T- Identical to the aroma with the creaminess playing a bigger part.

M- Medium body and low carbonation. Exactly how a stout should be, in my opinion. Easy drinking.

O- A lot of local people have raved about this beer but whenever I had a chance to get to Big Axe, it was out of rotation. After drinking a few pints of the stuff today, I can confidently say that the beer lives up to the hype. Nothing overly remarkable about the beer, just a solid stout with some great flavours.