Highland Oatmeal Porter

Brewed by Highland Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Asheville, North Carolina USA

Pours a mostly black color with a rather thick tan head. Some traces of red around the edges. Strong chocolate aroma and roasted malts. Flavor is sweet with chocolate hints and a thick mouthfeel. Coats the throat as it goes down. Classically delicious.

Very dark body with a pleasant smell. Taste of oatmeal very present with slight roasted flavors following. The end was slightly hoppy, almost balanced. Wonderful beer, but I think it needed to be a bit more roasted and chocolatey to be called a porter. It didn’t contain a bite like a stout would either. It was very smooth... not sure what to call it except good!

On tap at the Brick Store Pub and served in a pint glass. This was a very dark beer almost black, but when held up to the light it was a very deep (very) amber color. It had a creamy off-white head and left minimal lacing on the glass. The aroma was of roasted malts with no hops presence. The taste was pretty much the same, but chocolate notes were detectable. I rated this beer before I enjoyed it with a hunk of chocolate cake to celebrate my b-day. :-)

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry courtesy of ross. Pours a deep dark ruby-brown with an average size diminishing tan head. Slightly muted aroma of roasted malt, chocolate and brown sugar. Great taste of roasted malt, dark chocolate, oatmeal, dark fruit and a nice finish of coffee and hops -- tasty! Medium bodied, somewhat creamy mouthfeel. I really enjoyed this, a really good example of a simple, yet quite flavourful, Porter.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, his bottle via trade with ross. Opaque brown-black with a good-sized tan foamy head. Nice roasty porter aroma, chocolate, nuts and light coffee beans, with dark fruit and mint leaf pungent hops, quite malty indeed. Taste delivers - bitter resin/dry hops and dark roast malt, hint of lactose and mulch, nice longish mostly bitter finish - smells sweeter than it tastes. Average porter body, dry and very lightly acidic almost burnt roast malt palate - nice on-style brew.

Well I enjoyed this beer directly after having the Stout. This was a deal more malty and sweet via the Oatmeal but tasted entirely too similar to the Highland Stout. I enjoyed this, but it isn’t there best brew.

Deep, translucent and ruby-black in color with a creamy, fluffy tan head that hangs around for a while and then fades into a thin, retained mold growth formation on top. Lovely aromatic sentiments. Black patent, bitter dark chocolate, greasy & dry mocha beans, black licorice root and sugar stirred into soot. Flavor fails to be as dark rooted as the aroma would indicate, taking on velvety milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Mocha grinds meet a caramel-praline route. Broiled Dove chocolates and burnt brown sugar oatmeal with a scoop of tiramisu ice cream melting in it. This characteristic eventually curtails to embody a burnt Malt-o-Meal discipline. Dry, coarse and titillating mouth presence. Hop schedule seems to amplify the licorice root qualities, most predominantly in the finish, along with mocha beans over campfires, burnt coffee stirred into maple and brown sugar oatmeal, and granular dark chocolate.

12 oz bottle obtained via in-person trade with Wunderbier, served at cellar temperature in a La Chouffe tulip. Translucent prune juice body with a decent medium-bodied moderately lasting tan head....plenty of dark chocolate, harsh and tannic burgundy and roasty/burnt malts in the expressive, but rather difficult nose....very very dry, roasty body with touches of molasses and brown sugar sweetness, more towards the back end to counteract heavy expresso bitterness...quite full, heavy, rather sedimented body, prickly moderate carbonation....unsweetened licorice and bitter chocolate combine with burnt black bread for a powerful, dark, not altogether pleasant but memorable finish. Pretty hardcore porter.