Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
Marshall, Michigan USA

Courtesy of hoppymeal, thanks Derek! 12 oz bottle. Pours an viscous black color with a small tan head that disappates quickly. From the pour you can instantly smell almost a mesquite notes that touch the nose slightly. Aroma is vinous, sour lactic, roasted malts, smokey/mesquite and some coffee. Initial taste is sweet with roasted that coats the mouth very nicely. Chocolate and coffee appear on the midpalate and intensify. The abv is noticeable and warming. Vodka notes are most noticeable and remain to the finish. Finshing with roasted malts, balancing hop bitterness and mild chocolate. Mouthfeel of a light to medium body and some micro bubbles. Palate duration is above average quite pleasing. Some side tracking flavors in this one but overall interesting.

2-20-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to tytoanderso
Rich black brown pour with very dark caramel brown head that is thick and lasting. Very sweet alcohol aroma - fructose, corn syrup like in the smell and then after it warms there is a strange smoky nutty smell that appears. Flavor is boring for the most part - just not too complex. Watery and thin. This isn’t a horrible beer by any means, but I find it strange how highly this is rated.

’07 Bottle: Pitch black pour with a halo-esque tan head. Strong coffee and chocolate aroma...some roasted malt and plums apparent as well. Slightly creamy, yet more carbonated than expected in the body. Chocolate and roasted malt dominant flavor along with some anise and a dry hoppy finish. Good stuff. Two down...three to go.

300th United States Rating: Poured from a 12oz bottle and served in an English pint glass. This stout poured a near opaque black with a thin, creamy, dark tan head that slightly lasted. Almost no lace to speak of. The aroma of the beer was made up of chocolate-covered malted milk balls, medium roast coffee, and oats. The flavor consisted of rich dark chocolate, a mildly bitter coffee note, and some tongue warming alcohol. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and silky smooth with light carbonation. A really nice stout. The only drawback, being that the alcohol was a bit too noticable and kind of seemed out of place. Take the ABV down to 6.5% and this would probably be a 4+ rating. Other than that, really well done.

2/25/2007: Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout Ale is an extremely dark brown and is quite opaque. There is no head or crown and a mild level of fine carbonation. The aroma is filled with dark roasted malt, sweet rich caramelized malts, smooth dark chocolate, vanilla, and some char. The flavor is very, very roasted and charred (but not burnt) with some hints of semi-sweet and dark chocolate. This beer is surprisingly smooth on the palate (probably due to the oatmeal) and has a medium to medium-full body and a slightly creamy texture. This beer isn’t really sweet, but isn’t anywhere close to bitter. Overall all I would say that this is a nicely balanced, yet robust Oatmeal Stout. Very good.

12 fl. oz. bottle from Silphium (trade in December 2006). Thanks Brad! Rating #206 for this beer...

nice oatmeal stout. hints of vanilla, oats, nutmeg, and roastiness. mmmm roastiness. not much lacing but a good palate. i love this stout series from dark horse.

Had this side by side with Brass Knuckles and enjoyed it a lot more, although I still like the Black Bier and Too Cream Stout better.

Pours the darkest possible opaque chocolate brown. A small, foamy, British khaki head dissipates quickly, leaving just the dark liquid behind. Virtually no lacing noted. The aroma shows ultra-rich, dark chocolate malts, dark fruits, scorched caramel, and hints of vanilla. There is a surprisingly strong, boozy vodka component that detracts from the nose quite a bit. The flavor is dark and roasty, with chocolate malts again showing strong. The booze component is too strong, however, tipping the scale towards unbalanced, hot, and messy. The medium body is mildly astringent for the style, finishing warm and overly alcoholic. I had such high hopes for this brew after trying the Tres and Fore, but the One falls well short of the lofty standard that Dark Horse has set. Better than average, but quite a bit overrated.