Ecliptic: Gravastar (Peanut Butter Oatmeal Stout)

I thought I would start out with Gravastar as my first beer from the Big Stouts Box 2023. I am not a fan of peanut butter so not sure what to expect. The peanut butter flavor is rather subdued which is more to my liking. It has a decent mouthfeel. To me this is a good but not exceptional stout. It is cool that this was created especially for the Big Stout box!

 

I thought it was good, not great. Happy to try this one!

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Cheers!

 

Overall- drinkable but nothing special.

My review: Overall 3.76

Beautiful beer that pours with a creamy mocha head and some lacing that sticks down the glass.

Nose is pretty characteristic for a stout. Oat, roasted malt, and a hint of peanut

Flavor profile is somewhat subdued and consists of mostly roasted malt but you can taste a hint of peanut upfront. The finish is all roasted malt with impressions of cofee and a hint of bitterness.

Feel is medium bodied (light for a stout but heavy for other styles) and high carbonation. I usually really enjoy the thick consistency of oatmeal stouts but it's just not here

Overall this is a pretty good stout- but nothing special. I have some trouble finding the oat and the peanut butter is very subtle as well. I would order this at a random brew pub on a road trip but would not take home a growler of it.

 

Nice peanut tones (more peanut than peanut butter connotation) not overpowering
Not heavy.
Not sweet.
Not objectionable.
It's a good beer, solid.

My normal complaint with this style is they are typically a bit too diluted and need more oomph. This one does a good job - but I'd still like a bit more punch.

I could see drinking this beer often vs being a 'special treat' beer.

Improved as it warmed, enjoyed it start to finish.

 

Tried the Gravastar Peanut Butter Oatmeal Stout from Ecliptic Brewing yesterday. The peanut butter flavor is subtle, which does seem to help the overall flavor. Well made.

 

Even if I didn't like this beer, just the fact that Ecliptic spells complement properly gives it a leg up on too many annoying ignoramuses!

 

I didn't mean that to be my "official" review, which is now to say Gravastar is a typically flawless Ecliptic brew; but just not terribly interesting for a PB stout.

 

Having this as my first beer from the box. I’m in agreement with the general sentiment above. The peanut butter is very subdued. I’m getting a little of it in the aroma but the taste is dominated by roasted malts. As far as oatmeal stouts go, this is a pretty good one. It has a decent body, not too thick with a slight creamy quality from the oats. I’m gonna let this warm up a bit, but overall I’d say this warrants a solid B on the grading scale. Would certainly drink it again, but not something I’d seek out.

 

I chose Gravastar as my 1st from the box because the brewers probably took a solid oatmeal stout and said, "let's ad junk to this and see if we can screw it up", they failed....it was somewhat better than I expected it to be, but if I see it on the shelf, I'll leave it behind.

 

My fourth beer from the box. This is my least favorite so far. Not bad, just not great. Not much on the nose, dark toasty, malty taste with some bitterness from the coffee. PB is barely detectable. Thin mouthfeel for me - I like a thick chewy stout. Drinkable, but I would not seek this one again.

 

Reading the reviews on Untappd, I have to start out by thanking Eclipse Brewing for their offering. Not a bad Stout. Just a bit off the mark as far as the peanut butter.

With that said, my review… 1st of EBB: Big Stouts. Amber-brown w/ a loose tan head that dissipated quickly. A hint of peanut out of the can, but otherwise that’s it. A VERY dark roast, mostly coffee w/ a hint of smoke. Very Obsidian-like, Shakespeare-ish. Definitely not a PB Stout.

 

A dark, typical stout pour with a good amount of head. Aroma is oaty with just a slight hint of peanut butter. More carbonation than I would have expected. Feel is very thin. A fair amount of coffee/roasty notes with some bitter chocolate. Not much peanut butter at all. As it warms up there's some caramel. Overall, a decent roasty stout but not much in the peanut butter department.

 

Pours like a stout should - dark, opaque, half inch compact head that ends up as a ring around an island.

Typical stout on the nose, a get peanut but not peanut butter. More like peanuts in the shell, and not very strong even upon warming. The stout part tastes fine - nice level of roast and a little coffee, maybe a bit of chocolate as it warms up. I don't get the feel I expect from. The addition of oats - it seems a bit thin. The peanut- and I still don't feel peanut butter - is present but I the background. It's drying, astringent, and it's coating the tongue. It's a decent stout, but not getting the oatmeal and only a little peanut non-butter.

 

Disappointing. I expected more. Very little peanut butter. What I get is mainly the malt flavors. Warming did not change it much. I would not get again.

 

not a bad oatmeal stout by any means but 1) the peanut butter is close to nonexistent and 2) this one was doomed to be the outcast in a box of BA and non-BA AIS & RIS.

 

Think I did the right thing by cracking this one with breakfast pancakes & eggs. It’s good, not epic or Extreme, peanut-y but not peanut butter, very fresh, nice little hop note.
Certainly not a Friday Night stout.,.

 

I'm not getting any oatmeal or peanut with this, just coffee grounds and smoke. I think I'll pour the rest into a jar and make some chili with it.

 

Like other commenters I’m not necessarily glad to mix my peanut butter with my beer. But the peanutty taste is rather subdued, and it has a mellow overall profile. Good not great, but as observed before, it’s cool to drink something created for this event (us). Go Blue Jackets!

 

I’ll revise my opinion. This was the first beer out of the box for me, so I was expecting something big, bold, maybe a little crazy. This beer is not that. But as I finished it up, my opinion changed. Some beers require repeated tastes to reveal their character, for me anyway, and this beer is one of those. The subtle notes of the peanut butter blended very nicely with the character of the oatmeal stout, leaving a pleasing finish. Perhaps a little warming helped. I would buy a 4 pack of these; I just wouldn’t crack it open if I wanted something big and wild.

 

#5. Sure looks nice - black with a full, fluffy head. Reading the reviews, I thought it would be a lot lighter on the peanut butter. Have to say it took a few efforts, but the smell came through hard (and then hid again). It came through on the taste as well. It's not as in your face as the other one I had, but to me, it's pretty noticeable. The bitter, smoky, malty, coffee taste is always up front, but the peanut butter was right behind it. It is on the thinner side, though.

Yeah, more of a beer I'd crack to wind down on a Sunday night than an extreme one, but fine. I did give it plenty of time to warm after reading up, haha.

 

Notes of smoky dark chocolate on the nose and palate. A bit of peanut butter makes its way in there.
Mouthfeel too close to medium. Carbonation too close to high.
Not really extreme or big. Definitely an outlier in this box. Good with a beef burrito though. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

it's friday! settling down after an easy day at work, although it was easy i'm ready for the weekend, so what a perfect way to relax and try a new beer. I just had a peanut butter stout recently so this is my second in a week. brown in color with a light brown / khaki fluffy head, foamy and frothy settling down after about one minute. not really a peanut butter smell, i'm getting it but it's faint. instead it's a bit acidic, and a bit like roasted coffee. the taste is all black coffee. there's very little peanut butter in there. it's bitter and leathery, and no particular flavors stick out, but i really expected more peanut. this is no match for great notion's peanut brother. now THAT is a peanut butter stout. this is, well, a bit shy on flavor. mouthfeel is medium. not particularly thrilled with this, and hey it's only 7% too. i like my beers high-powered, this just doesn't cut it for me.

 

L: Pretty much black. I poured aggressively and got a nice thick soapy-looking head.
S: Initially got a nice whiff of peanut butter which was pretty cool.
T: Some smoke and a tiny bit of peanut butter but in the middle I got some kind of tang. After drinking for a while I think the "tang" was some kind of acidic/sour/citrus taste. Aftertaste was a bit bitter.
F: Thinner than I'd like for an oatmeal stout. I desired more body.
O: The initial peanut butter smell and taste was nice but the body was thin and the citrusy/acidic taste and bitter aftertaste killed the peanut butter.