Mendocino Winter Ale (06/07 - Oatmeal Stout)

Formerly brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Sweet Stout
Saratoga Springs, New York USA

Savannah, Ga. - Habersham Beverage Warehouse - 12 oz bottle. Dark brown to black pour, mocha colored head. Slight fruity aroma with hints of chocolate. Flavor has some oily chocolate notes with some winey accents. Reminds me somewhat of a dobblebock moreso than an Oatmeal Stout because of the oiliness and olive notes. Thin mouthfeel for a stout.

Bottle thanks to ross. Very dark brownish black pour with a small tan head. Lots of chocolate aroma, creamy oats, and a touch of coffee and a sweet fruitiness that i can’t quite place. Bold chocolate flavor up front, fairly astringent rough hoppiness in the middle with a dry burnt coffee finish. Medium body, dry, and lively carbonation.

It’s funny that we are calling it a “Sweet Stout,” because my complaint was that the beer was very astringent and sour.
The beer poured an inky black body with a tall tan head. The aroma was flat coffee grounds and an astringent hoppyness. The flavor was where I was most let down. Pressed black coffee blended with bakers chocolate & Pine-Sol give off a rather unrefined presence…. Not to my liking.

Opaque black pour, diminishing brown head, nice lacing left behind. Meak aroma is of grainy oats, with roasted malt up front, mild dark fruits, a little grapefruit hoppiness, cereal grains and caramel presence that sinks in towards the end of the nosing. Flavor is similar, with additions of buttery toast and a hop taste that seems to detract from the typical creaminess of a west coast oatmeal stout(brewed in NY, I know). Palate is too grainy and uncohesive for my tastes, seems way off center. Finishes mildly dry and roasty. Somewhat balanced at times, has its’ moments, but in the end I feel like it was a meager attempt at a tough style.

pretty darn thick pour for a sweet stout. pitch black with tiny bubbled mocha head. not very aromatic, but what is there is mostly dark chocolate malts. pretty balanced flavor, though somewhat unremarkable. a little underpowered, in fact. ultimately, not enough flavor.

Pours an opaque black with a large, frothy dark tan head that leaves a wall of lacing behind as it subsides. Lightly sweet dark caramely malty aroma has notes of grainy oats and dark chocolate. Body starts fairly full and sweet with a nice drier, roasty earthiness balance toward a creamy finish. A really nice oatmeal stout. I wish this would be a regular offering.

Bitter coffee aroma comes from the black body with no head. Thin palate--I had to double check this on the site to make sure it was a stout... Taste was like bitter leftover coffee from yesterday’s breakfast.

Black pour with a creamy and lasting tan head. Aroma is roast and burnt malts, with chocolate. Medium bodied but has some depth. Medium carbonation. Lots of chocolate and coffee with citrus hops on the back of the tongue. Bitter finish with lingering coffee notes. I almost missed this beer as all of their winter brews look the same. Glad I didn’t. Solid, robust stout. Relatively inexpensive as well.