Boscos Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Boscos Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Memphis, Tennessee USA

Red-brown to black, spotty beige cover. Aroma is empty but some roast, chocolate. Taste is fuller, chocolate, caramel, some oatmeal smoothing body.

Draft at the brewpub in Hillsboro Village, Nashville. Pours a clear dark brown with a half-inch tan head that laces the glass. Aroma of oats, chocolate, roasted malts, and a flavor that followed suit. Surprisingly light, syrupy, and watery. I had higher hopes from this oatmeal stout and have had far superior versions from Bell’s, Samuel Smith, and St. Ambroise.

Had on tap with UTA at the NCAA Tournament. Very filling. Definite Oatmeal along with subtle coffee.

Draft Memphis. Dark brown almost black with a 2 finger head and pretty lace. Cocoa and oatmeal aroma, with a bit of bitter chocolate and smooth cream flavor. Very quaffable.

Dark brown with hints of red. Tan head and lace. Flavor of choc/coffee. It seemed to have a hint of abv a good bitter, caramelly flavor as well. Medium bodied. Solid pretty complex flavor not your average brewpub stout.

On tap at the Memphis location. It has a nice creamy head with a dark almost opaque black body and left nice lacing. The aroma was anything surprising. Just really sweet and that was about it. The flavor has a bit more to it. One of the first oatmeal stouts where I feel like I can pick out the taste of the actual oats. Beyond that, it has some nice chocolates to it. It has a nice creamy mouthfeel to it with a good dry finish.

Draft at Nashville. Pours deep brown-black with a diminishing head. Medium mouthfeel. Faint aroma of oats and cocoa. Flavor of dark roasted malt, chocolate, and dried oats. Mildly sweet with some strong nutty notes. . Bitter finish with a hint of coffee. Very solid. However, I think a different yeast strain could make this even better. My wife thought this was outstanding.

Bottle conditioned. Bomber decanted into a fluted pitcher, poured into a fluted ale glass, Nashville brewpub. If it weren’t so dark, this would be an almost-clear transluscent ruby-black. Being dark, it is almost opaque, with lights shining through the body faintly. Taupe head is foamy and firm, very lasting. Head leaves a fairly sticky, dense wall of lacing with almost-uniform bubble size; it looks soft and grainy as it pauses and slowly slides down back to the thick layer of foam left on the surface. Oats and dust predominate on the nose with a stiff foundation of plumy dark chocolate; as it warms, the oats slip back and a port-ish pluminess emerges. Oat character is strong on the first sip, floating above the darker malt flavors; eventually, it subsides to leave the plumy sweetness evidenced on the smell. Dark and milk chocolate sweetness usher in the finish, which is underdeveloped and kind of just fades away into powdered sugar softness (which is normal for a sweet stout, I suppose) and a slightly metallic hops echo. The flavors are wonderfully subtle, but they lack the type of depth and expansiveness i usually enjoy from stouts. It boasts itself as a "meal in a glass"; it’s more like dessert, not that filling, but sweet and delicate in texture (especially the "coffee," which is a very subtle undertone on the finish). It’s like an earthier, more subdued Kuhnhenn Creme Brulee, with something a bit off in the flavor.