Early Riser
Gem State Brewing

oatmeal stout, basic but tasty, smooth from the oats, nice and roasty on the dark grain side, faintly astringent and more of that as it warms, like the ferment and its conditions are not quite dialed in, but its minor and overall this is cool, i like it being bitter and without much middle malt sweetness, and i like the long silky texture through much of it, notes of espresso and light smoke underlie the roastiness. the beer is close to black and with some shine, looks well refined under a short fizzy off white head comprised of big sized bubbles. the nose on this has some chocolate and raisin to it, some obvious bitterness, and a definite cereal character, oats make their impact everywhere in this. roast starts early in the flavor and sort of teases like its going to get pretty intense but it never quite goes that far, instead is stays in a neat coffee space on the palate, and all the bitterness seems from the grain to me, no real hop presence here. i wish the ferment was a bit cleaner because the rest of this is darn good. many of the beers here seemed promising but an iteration or so away from their full potential, super new still so not trying to be too critical. love the oat smoothness this has, and expect it to be even better when i go back...