Belfast Bay McGoverns Oatmeal Stout

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

Name: McGoverns Oatmeal Stout
Date: 10/19/1997
Mode: Draft
Source: Great Lost Bear, Maine

black, thick nitro tan head, flavored by lots of little buggies swarming around in a glass of what was once probably a fine beverage but sat too long in a pub that emphasizes quantity over quality. A sign over the bar reads: ’Caveat Emptor’.

Aroma: 1/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 1/10; Palate: 1/10; Overall: 3/20
Rating: 1/5.0
Score: -/4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Hazy dark brown with a thin light brown head. Light chocolate, roast and a hint of hops on the nose. Fairly rich, bitter, chocolatey. Lots of hop. Surprisingly rich.

(12oz bottle) Black body topped by thick brown head. Aroma is medium sweet, cocoa, roast. Taste is medium sweet, roast, lactose, some burnt, light chocolate. Creamy medium body.

(Bottle) Pours a black body with creamy brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, lactose, and chocolate. Flavor of roastiness, dry cocoa, and mild hops with plenty of carbonation in the mouthfeel.

12oz bottle. Poured a black color (with reddish/brown edges) and an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of roast, coffee, chocolate, oats, and lactose. Tastes of roast, coffee, and chocolate. Some vanilla cream. Lively body.

Bottle... Pitch black ale with a fizzy, overflowing, well-tanned head. Excellent retention. Nutty, mocha nose. Medium to full-bodied with spritzy carbonation. Leans slightly on the bitter side of balance by providing charred and acrid, coffee ground notes. Thin, crisp, lightly bitter finish.

12 oz bottle filled most of the glass with foam. Took a while for the dark tan, airy head to subside atop an opaque black body. Aroma of sweet dark caramel and chocolate with some earthy oats. Body has a good, fairly full maltiness and nice balance of dark chocolatey complexity. Smooth and easy to drink with some lingering espresso in the finish. I was a little worried seeing all the carbonation, but this wasn’t infected, probably just a matter of bottling before fermentation had fully stopped.

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.