Big Sky Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Big Sky Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Missoula, Montana USA

New State from the bottle, woo-hoo! Pours a nice deep black with a soft head. Taste is pretty sweet with minimal acrid notes. Some chocolate and caramelized malt come out. Almost no hop character. Not too bad and imminently drinkable. Nice enough.

Bottle. Pours a black color with a small tan head that lasts. Taste is of roasted malt, chocolate, smoke, and caramel. Has a good bitterness to it. Similar aroma. Good mouthfeel. Pretty easy to drink, smooth, inexpensive and an overall enjoyable beer. Also, the label and box design are pretty neat.

Bottle. Pours a clear reddish brown with a 2 finger tan head and nice lacing. Nose is roasted malt and dark chocolate. Taste is roasted coffee beans, cocoa, toasted nuts. Medium mouth feel. Not too bad, but would be better with a fuller body.

12 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquors - Pours a clear brown color with a 3/4 finger thick light tan head. Very light lacing. Aroma is a nutty toasted malt. Flavor is caramel malt, chocolate, and has a light nuttiness to it. Mouthfeel is a little thin. A decent, drinkable Stout. Worth a try.

12-oz. Pours jet black with a towering, rocky, heavily-eyed burnt tan head. Falls quickly away to virtually nothing. Gorgeous sweet nose: chocolate, plums, prunes, some red fruit as well, maybe strawberry. Prickly medium body. Not very pleasant for a stout. The chocolate and fruits return for the mid-palate, joined by a bit of campfire. Dry roasty finish. Not super exciting. These guys always get all sideways when they go to make a stout.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is dark brown. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (chocolate milk, caramel, cereal), with a note of vanilla. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter, slightly husky. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Very simple, uninteresting.

This black ale poured with a thin beige head and a pleasant roasted malt aroma. There is a creamy licorice and oatmeal flavor that is a bit watery. Even though this is advertised as a sweet stout, I found it to actually be more bitter than most. It’s drinkable but not remarkable.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown body with a small, bubbly, beige-colored head. Smell: Roasty coffee and creamy nose with notes of bakers chocolate and licorice. Taste: Dark caramel paired with an earthy chocolate character and a hint of licorice. Mildly sweet. Slight roasty bitterness. The lightly roasty finish leaves you with a watered down chocolate flavor. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Pass. Errs on the side of drinkable, but ultimately, it’s a bit thin, and leaves you (or me at least) looking and wanting for more richness, more creaminess.