Oatmeal Milk Stout Ale Redux
River Horse Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

Pours a pitch black color with a thick frothy tan head that slowly fades into some spotty minimal lacing.

The aroma begins with a bone dry black maltiness with some light lactose sweetness and a bit of chocolate.

The tastes follow the nose with an excellent chocolate malt sweetness with added milk sugar sweetness. As it warms the of black malt bitterness emerges more and more, but only enough to balance the sweetness.

The mouthfeel is full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. Finish is on the drier end for the style, would like a bit more creaminess here.

Overall this is a good drinking milk stout, but not amongst the top of the style. Could use less black patent malt and more lactose to create a smoother mouthfeel.

 

 

 

 

Great brew. I had this quite accidentally, and actually it was the first Stout that I';d ever had at that point. I didn't really know what a Stout was, but I knew I liked this a lot.

Dark dark brown color with very thin, cream-colored head. Smelled of toasted oats, coffee, and a slight booze note.

The flavor of deep, rich, dark chocolaty coffee malts and roasted oats with a hint of acidic sweetness on the exhale. the hop notes are there, but buried under the roasted coffee notes. Good dense weight and smooth carbonation. Goes down easy, but not a session beer—maximum of two in one sitting for me.

Limited release, but they've made it for the past two winters that I recall, so check it out in November if you can.

Pours a pitch black color with a little hint of brown on the edge of the glass. Loose two finger chocolate brown head with OK retention and modest lacing. Smells largely of coffee and roasted grains, a little chocolate and astringency, too. Taste is dark chocolate, bitter dark chocolate, with vanilla and, oddly enough, molasses. Heavy cream and granola flavors which then give way to a mountain of coffee flavor. Slightly over carbonated, I think, but an otherwise smooth and decently heavy body mostly makes up for it. Sweet and rich beer with good flavor that is reasonably to style and easy to enjoy. Whether or not the coffee was intended, I don't know; but I liked it. I would definitely pick up more if I saw them around.

Thanks to victory1 for bringing this over for our last homebrewing adventure. Poured it into my 12-oz snifter.

The pour makes it look like the beer is of medium thickness and well carbonated. A pretty 1cm head of coarse pale brownish foam sits on top, fed by bunches of streamers of bubbles that cascade upwards. Spotty and irregular stringy lacing adorns the sides of the glass.

The aroma leaves something to be desired, even almost at room temp, I can only pull out a slight roasty aroma that is coupled with some chocolate and coffee notes with a milk stouty sweetness. The taste is superior to the aroma, as it brings out the coffee and roast in a good balance. Despite the relatively low abv, though, there is an astringent alcohol warmth in the finish.

Creamy and well-bodied, and from the milk/oatmeal stout combo, I expect nothing less. Slightly more carbonated than I like my stouts. This beer is much better colder than it is as it approaches cellar temp.

12oz bottle obtained via Veterans BIF from mday. Thanks for the opportunity.

Poured into an imperial pint, formed 1" dark brown head over the opaque dark brown/black brew. Dense head falls ever-so slowly, with thick coating lace. Aroma is roasty dark malts. Taste is sweet dark grains to start, chocolate continues through the middle, with a light coffee bitterness to close. Mouthfeel is so smooth, one of the smoothest non-cask beers I've ever had, and drinkability is awesome as well. Took some restraint to just not chug this down. But alas, I only have one bottle. Must savor...

A - Poured a deep, dark brown body with a very thin head...the head actually showed some spotty retention...where's the lace?

S - The aroma was compiled of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, and a touch of sweetness

T - The combination of roasted malts and rolled oats came across very nice...the balance was nice and the malts were well roasted...the malts also provide a decent sweetness to the beer...but the real sweetness comes from the added lactose...there's not much but it's detectable...there's a coffee-like bitterness that finishes...not much hop presence

M - Medium bodied...but a little thin...mild carbonation...smooth but could be creamier

D - This was just okay for me...I'd like to give the original a try but it's cool they did a one-off of this brew...I'd have it again but it's not one I would seek out

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Perfect Pint glass. The aggressive pour yielded a large, 3 finger caramel colored head that dissipated surprisingly quick leaving very little lace behind. The body is pretty much solid and black. I can detect small amounts of brown around the edges, but that may just be my imagination...

The nose is weaker than what I was hoping for. Cold, wet coffee grinds, with tiny hints of chocolate and vanilla. You can also pick up something like a malted milk aroma...

The taste is also weaker than expected, but not to the degree the smell was. Starts off with a roasted malt lick that gives way to a sweeter malty middle. The finish goes into a bitter black coffee spiral that lingers into the aftertaste.

The mouth feel is probably the worst part about this brew...thin and watery for a stout. Mild carbonation.

Meh...pretty good flavor and look, but not much else. Worth a try but I will probably not buy again.

Picked up a single from Abe's Cold Beer and poured the beer into a glass tumbler for sipping. Frankly, I'm struck by how such a strong beer has such a mild flavor. The aroma has a pleasant mix of vanilla, bourbon and milk chocolate. The flavor focuses on a roasted, bitter baker's chocolate note, with candied lactose sweetness around the edges, but you really have to search for the flavor. Otherwise this is just sort of one-note sweet roast beer if you don't pay attention. Great beer is easier than that, but this brew is still decent and worth a try if you enjoy the style.

River Horse Oatmeal Milk Stout

12oz btl poured into pint glass

App: black as night, nice 1/4" tan foamy head

Aroma: sweet... some coffee & chocolate notes mix nicely

Taste: Roasty malt character is dominant. Where the aroma has a lot of sweet chocolate going on, the taste has more roasty coffee. More sweetness comes through as it warms up. Not a whole heck of a lot in the way of hop bitterness but that's ok.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy.

Notes: Rich, yet nice and drinkable. Pretty darn good stout.

Redux Batch 005. Pours very dark brown, pretty much black actually, with a tinge of dark scarlet at the very edges. About an inch of dark tan head settles to a thin but full lace. Doesn't leave much stick on the sides.

Smell is pretty nice and consists of sweet milk chocolate, some fudgy darker chocolate, a whiff of coffee and some roasted malt.

Taste is also pretty chocolaty, with some sweet milk chocolate and some darker, bittersweet chocolate plus some roasted malt. I get a quick hint of some citrus hops every now and again, although they are by no means a dominant characteristic. Some coffee and a bit of roasty bitterness last into the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty smooth, but not as creamy as it probably should be for an oatmeal stout or a milk stout. Put them together and this should be velvety smooth; it's not, but it's clean and soft enough I suppose.

This is a pretty nice beer from River Horse, one of the better ones I can recall having had from them. Lots of chocolaty flavor going on, and a tasty beer overall.

Pour - nice and dark, very much the way I like my stouts. This looks like a hearty brew with a thin coffee colored ring of foam on top.

Aroma - loads of fresh roasted coffee, dark roasted malts, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, cocoa powder and faint whiffs of vanilla extract and alcohol. This smells delicious!

Taste - big dark roasted malt flavor, bitter and toasty with a very creamy texture and a nice sweet almost vanilla and cocoa finish. This is chock full of flavor. Nice bitterness like that of dark chocolate or black coffee but well balanced by the sweetness that follows it. Very smooth down the throat, I could do a few more of these.

Overall - excellent oatmeal stout IMO. Loads of flavor, very smooth and creamy in texture with a great balance of bitterness and sweetness. I'd choose this over a pint of Guinness that is for sure and if this was on nitro it could be heavenly.

Would I buy more of it? - yes, I wish I could find it on nitro. The Brewer's Reserve series from River Horse is off to a great start.

The beer pours a pitch black color with a thick frothy tan head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a bone dry black malt scent with some light lactose sweetness and a bit of chocolate. The taste is good. It has an excellent chocolate malt sweetness with milk sugar. There is a bit of black malt bitterness, but only enough to balance the sweetness. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good drinking milk stout. It's sweet without going overboard.