The thick, black beverage comes with a top of dense, dark tan foam that lets the drinker know that this is not a beer for the casual drinker who might want to venture from their favorite domestic macro-brew Bud or MGD (or PBR, if you're hipster). The aroma is heavy malt, and that's pretty much it. I'm not sure if I should be smelling the oatmeal right now, but I'm not. In other oatmeal stouts, I would, but that just means these guys aren't doing the same thing as everyone else, and I encourage that.First sip is dark and very, very coffee. If you would have told me that this is a coffee stout, not an oatmeal stout, I would 100% agree with the categorization. The coffee is a bit weak and very bitter, but coffee is what I'm tasting. I'm not suggesting that they added coffee to the beer, but the malt that they are using definitely makes me think that coffee was a taste they were going for. Maybe a swig will sort this out.
Tip-in is coffee, burned oatmeal, and carbonation tingle. It transitions into the middle which is actually pretty nice - oatmeal, slight bitterness, still a hint of coffee, some caramel, smoke, and maybe even licorice. The finish is a wave of bitterness and burned coffee before it trails away with smoke.
Bottom Line: It's inelegant, but it is not entirely bad.
2.25/5
