Brau Brothers Whirly Bird Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Brau Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Lucan, Minnesota USA

I live in a town near the brewery and Brauhaus brewpub and one of the first ones I tried way back then was their Oatmeal Stout. So when I heard that they were re-releasing as one of their seasonals, I was pretty pumped. I’m definitely going to have to make up for lost time with lots and lots of Whirly Bird!

Black color with a thin head. Milky aroma and lots of oats. Chalky mouthfeel. Plenty of chocolate and oats. Almost bittersweet finish. Very nice.

Black pour with a quickly diminishing tan colored head. Aroma is enticing. Chocolate, licorice, and vanilla. Very nice deep chocolate flavor, with some lactose and roast flavors complimenting. Really quite bold and flavorful. Not much oatmeal detected, yet still, this is good. Impressed.

Sampled from a 12-oz bottle at Cellar’s Wine and Spirits in St Paul, Minnesota. Pours an opaque dark brown brew with a thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a fine off-white ring. Aroma of toasted dark malt, some Fritos corn chips with salt, oatmeal and a touch of dark chocolate. Taste is full bodied, very light carbonated with flavors of toasted oatmeal malt, some light cream, lactose and a touch of milk chocolate. Finish is smooth and creamy with a mild roasted and semi-sweet dark malt aftertaste. So far the best of the the brewmaster series.

Very nice aroma of roast barley with some coffee notes. A bit of chocolate in there also. Pours up nice and dark as it should be with a rich lingering head. Some sweetness from lactose on the palate with a bit of creaminess from the oats. Very smooth, and well balanced. Has a medium finish. Carbonation is on the low side and feels just right. Actually, this one surprised me. To me it is one of the better oatmeal stouts I have had recently. I had a bottle version and it tastes very fresh. Nice beer!

(bottle) Pours black with a tan head that fades away to nothing. Well, the first time I had this beer, I thought it smelled strongly of Frito Lay’s corn chips, but on my second tasting I smell a strong scent of chocolate and roasted malt. There’s also definite barley in there as well. Upon warming, the smell takes more of a Bell’s Java Stout turn, with a lot of roasted coffee on the nose. The taste is simple, but really good with roasted malts and a lot of chocolate taking up the majority of the flavor. The finish is just a very nice lingering taste of chocolate. Medium mouthfeel. Even though this is not a complex beer, it is well done, and probably one of the best offerings from Brau Brothers.

Pours deep dark brown with reddish brown edges and thin tan head. The aroma is full with roasted malts going to burnt malts then to earthiness, chocolate and molasses. Nice full aroma. The taste is similar but doesn’t seem as rich. I get roastiness mixing with burnt malts then turning toward chocolate and a bit of molasses. It ends with a modest level of roasted malts and some malt sweetness.

Bottle, courtesy sebletitje. Black pour,. big cloud-like brownish tan head, sandy lacing. Chocolatey grainy nose, lactose, milky creaminess, some caramel and dry oats. Starts of sweet with lactose and bitter hops, with a big wave of oats, roast and toast in the finish. Thin-bodied, but still tasty and balanced. Drinkable.