Belfast Bay McGoverns Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Portland, Maine USA

12oz bottle best before 4/06 thanks to Porterhouse. Black in color with a medium sized, creamy tan head. Roasted malt aroma with some coffee and dark chocolate as well. Mildly sweet on first sip, with flavors of coffee, roasted malt, chocolate and a bit of lactic tartness. Finishes somewhat bitter.

(12oz bottle) Purchased at RSVPs in Portland, ME. Pours a large, frothy brown head with an opaque body. Strong bitter chocolate nose. Oatmeal is somewhat tinny while a powerful thin syrup of cocoa and molasses entwine your tongue. Dry bitter finish. Very good.

Bottle (341ml). Via trade with Ruggedman. Poured lovely thick opaque black with a large foamy-creamy brown head. Roast chocolate/coffee malt with green apple, grassy hops - quite sweet, almost minty. Taste is an odd combination of dark chocolate malt, green apple and not quite ripe white wine grapes, and fresh-cut hay - starts sweet, finishes (takes its time) crushed-mint-leaf bitter, pleasant. Mouthfeel is bitter, surprisingly carbonated, lightly acidic, with no alcohol intrusiveness; the body is perhaps a touch weak. Nice easy-drinking oatmeal stout.

12 oz. bottle thanks to OhioDad. dark brown pour with a big foamy tan head. a sweet chocolatey aroma with a hint of some coffee. flavor was more of the same with some dry roasted malts, but the carbonation was too over-the-top for me and seemed to detract from some of the flavors.

Any first impressions?
-Ebullient foam haphazardly lacing above the deepest ebony.
-Competent roasted malts grilling a grapey, baccate fruitiness.
-Decent black chocolate maltiness balances off the burnt coffee bean dryness.
-Active carbonation and lean mouthfeel make it an easy quaffer.

What if you dig deeper?
-Some tart allusions in the aroma are thankfully restrained in the flavor spectrum.
-It gets linear the more you down the glass.
-Finishes shyly, proffering simple roasty adieus.
-Hops are passive in this fruity and humble stout.

Bottle; best before March or April ’06.

12oz bottle via trade with porterhouse - Thanks Kevin! - Pours dark black and thick with a nice tan head that stays pretty well and laces some on the way down the glass. Aroma of sweet chocolate, some caramel malt, and an underlying roasted note. Flavor is quite sweet. Notes of chocolate and caramel and a cola sweetness as well. Not as many of those roasted notes in the aroma in the flavor. Palate is medium bodied with a somewhat bitter finish. Would make a fair session stout..

Very very large, slow-to-dissipate head with black opaque body. Smells a bit sweet with a hint of malty bitterness. Tastes rather sweet to start with a hoppy, slightly bitter finish. Very flavorful. Takes a little getting used to... Not my favorite but not a bad stout.... I’m sure it’s much better on tap. Looks nice though.

(Bottle) This one pours very dark, color of dark mahogany, opaque. Thick tan head has that Guinness "waterfall" effect. Lacing fair. Aroma is mostly coffee with cream, some chocolate. Initial hit is a little bitter, then a little syrupy. Roasted coffee. Then a little bitterness in finish. I thought this was great. A nice stout from Vacationland.