Midnight Odyssey
Riverhead Brewing Company

Advent Calendar
Dec 5 2022

This is one of the Ontario stouts received in trade from thehyperduck. I am having a lot of fun with them. Midnight Odyssey is dark, dark brown with a tall loose head which recedes relatively quickly to a thin lacing around the edges of the glass. The nose is dark chocolate with a hint of vanilla. A medium bitter roasted malt body with some dark roasted coffee notes. Mouthfeel is mostly crisp with a moderately aggressive carbonation. Another nice brew made possible by thehyperduck. Thanks again for the swap!

Good looking pour. Dark with a big head. Settles to a film, no lace. Nose is mostly boozy, a little dark chocolate and coffee. Thin bodied, slightly ashy, some dark chocolate and coffee. Drinkable, but ordinary.

can from LCBO - pours a deep black with a 2 finger mocha colored cap that lasts and laces....aromas of coffee, cocoa, dark fruits and some earthy tones....rich creamy mouthfeel, robust full bodied with a deep roasty character.....flavour follows aroma with rich coffee-chocolate tones balanced by a nice hop bite, dried fuit subtones, chewy oatmeal robustness....finishes lightly dry, roasty with low sweetness.....very decent oatmeal stout

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded L0823 (likely Nov 8 2023) and served barely chilled.

Pours an opaque brownish-black colour, capped with an inch of smooth, creamy, light brown-coloured head that lasts for three minutes or so. A frothy collar is the only remnant worth noting; minimal lace deposition. A little sweet on the nose, with dark chocolate figuring in prominently; I'm also getting coffee beans, milk chocolate and roasted grains, with hints of oatmeal and raisin.

Not bad - the flavours follow the nose, with dark chocolate, coffee, oatmeal and roasted grains comprising the bulk of the profile. Moderately sweet, with hints of milk chocolate & berries; concludes with a briefly lingering bittersweet chocolate aftertaste. Medium-bodied, with fairly soft carbonation that gently tickles the tongue, adding the barest hint of crispness to this stout's smooth mouthfeel. Very easy to knock back at 6%.

Final Grade: 3.71, a B grade. I mean it's not world-class or anything, but if I were in the mood for an oatmeal stout then Riverhead's Midnight Odyssey could serve as an acceptable substitute for my go-to. Maybe a little on the sweet side for this style, but mostly just a straightforward, even-tempered oatmeal stout - at worst, it's unremarkable, and comparable to the other middling Ontario stouts you can find at a typical LCBO. A pretty decent brew overall - one of Riverhead's better efforts, and worth trying if you stumble upon it.

 

really nice beer here. flavourful, high on coffee roasted flavour but still very sweet at the same time. highly drinkable. loved it. shame it isn't available all year round Best craft oatmeal stout u can buy in ontario.