Black RIver Oatmeal Stout
Front Street Brewery

 

Poured on-tap and served in a shaker pint, the beer is a dark brown-to-black coloring with a halo of tan head. Nose of chocolate, hazelnut, coffee, roasted notes, and hints of smoke. Flavors are roasted coffee and cocoa forward, with hints of caramel in the backbone. Dry, smooth body, with a roasted, mocha aftertaste. Dry, clean finish. Solid stout.

 

 

 

Appearance: dark brown almost black in color with a short 1/2" fluffy head. Some moderate lacing develops.

Smell: a very light roasted malt sweetness is all that can be pulled from the glass.

Taste: roasted malt, raisins, hint of oat grains, and a mild bitterness.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Light prickliness to start, smooth and somewhat creamy at the finish. Aftertaste is long as the flavors linger in the mouth a while.

Drinkability: this was a decent but not great oatmeal stout. Several pints could be easily quaffed in a session.

Sturdy black pour with an off white head. Some lacing. Aroma was not real strong, but roasty grain and coffee. Almost creamy mouthfeel. Real solid medium body. Tastes roasted malt with some mocha. Finishes rather light with some coffee. Nothing overpowering, would have liked this to be a bit bigger, but a nice oatmeal stout.

A: Pours pitch black with 2 fingers of creamy tan head. Nice lacing on the glass as the beer goes down.

S: Caramel malts with slight burnt aroma. A hint of oats is also evident.

T: Cocoa up front, subtle hints of dried dark fruit. Mild hop bitterness comes in late to balance the malt.

M: The oats lend a smoothness to the beer, but otherwise, it feels a bit thin.

D: An easy drinking stout, the growler won't last more than a couple of hours split between two people.

Savored this one over two different days at the brewery in Wilmington. From our experience--our group had all nine offerings over the course of a few days--this was the best beer in their current lineup.

Poured a dark black/brown. It was pretty dark inside the brewery, so I'm not exactly sure if it was opaque or had any highlights. Regardless, it was a nice looking beer, with a frothy tan head. Excellent lacing and retention followed.
Aromas of bitter chocolate and roasted malts
Medium flavored, but still hearty brew. You had all the expected roasted and sweet malt flavors swimming around. According to the bartender, there weren't much oats added, you definitely don't detect much within the beer. Sweetness is counter balanced with a light bitterness.
Went superbly both by itself and with some late night apps. I'd love to try it with a nice steak.

The beer poured blackish brown with amber highlights and a tan/brown head which lasts for days to lace the glass.

The aroma was chocolate, coffee, and caramel with dark fruits.

The flavor was caramel, coffee, chocolate and molasses. Those flavors are mixed in a complexity of dark fruits.

The finish was dry with expresso flavor lastings into the aftertaste. Teh body was medium to medium full, but needed to be bigger.

Note: This beer was consumed over two days. On the second day when it was less carbonated the flavor was actually better than on the first day.

This was a 64 ounce growler dated the day I purchased it at Wineseller and More in Wilmington.