DuClaw Molasses Alchemy Oatmeal Stout

Furkin @ Bel Air Firkin Friday-Dark black w/no head or lacing but nice carbonation. Sweet, coffee aroma. Rich full flavor of coffee, oatmeal, chocolate & sweet molasis, which really comes thru & brings out the other flavors of the brew. Very smooth & easy to drink, could be a definite sesson brew, which I don’t often say @ a stout. This is much better than the standard version on tap, the extra flavors in this Firkin really make this brew, & the flavor comes thru much better @ the slightly warmer temperature. A real winner; Long sweet finish.

Firkin @ DuClaw Real Ale Festival. Deep, dark and opaque. No head but nice carbonation. Coffee is the big aroma, with some oat. Smooth, smooth, smooth. Chewy mouthfeel with sweet molasses after the initial coffee and light hop bitterness. Some chocolate in the taste as well. A bit thick, but otherwise nice beer.

Black body, thin tan head. Aroma is chalky, sweet, and grainy. Flavor was oaty, a bit more chocolate than the regular version, and a touch of molasses. The body was just awesome, nice and full, and smoooooth.

Firkin @ Arundel Mills, Firkin Friday. Pours a very dark, chocolate-brown color; creamy light tan head with good retention and excellent, fine-bubbled lacing (Pete’s pour was gorgeous; mine was less so, probably because Ali kept drinking it). Lots of molasses, brown sugar, sugar cookies / caramelized sugars in the aroma; softer hop presence than the standard version; very generous malt character and aromatics; huge nose from a firkin beer. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: toasty / roasted malts, carefully roasted coffee (nothing astringent), milk and dark chocolate, and nougat upfront; very pleasant malt core, with a perimeter of mineral bitterness; drinkable, malt-forward beer that loses a touch of its mineral hoppy balance from the molasses. Medium finish: nougat, touch of smoke (appearing as roasted meats, beef jerky - nicely spiced), roasted coffee and dense maltiness; some breadiness at the far end.