Nils Oscar Coffee Stout Rwanda Gatsinga

Brewed by Nils Oscar
Style: Stout
Nyköping, Sweden

Bottle from Dr. Capone, Bh.D. Pours deep brownish toward black with 2-fingers of tan head. Nose is roasty dark malt, cacao, chocoff, with heavy espresso. Tastes of heavy coffee, dark malt, cacao, some hops, more fresh bitter black coffee late (would this beer cure you of a hangover if you drank it all might then vomited?) with a good balance and complexity. I like this brewer, and I like this beer. Get ya some, and do it right now.

Purchased one bottle at Good Food Store in Missoula Montana. Pours almost black with not much head. Very rich and smooth, full taste. Notes of coffee and a little chocolate. Not much aroma for a coffee stout. Thumbs up, but fairly expensive.

Pours black with a small light brown head which recedes to a thin layer of foam. Aromas of coffee and vanilla are accompanied by dark fruits (prunes, candied figs) and cocoa. Flavor of roasted coffee hits the palate first, followed by bitter dark chocolate and just the faintest hint of the dark fruit from the aroma. Dry finish. Body is just a bit on the thin side.

Poured from an 11.2oz bottle and served in an English pint. Dark cola brown pour with a fluffy, two-finger thick tan head that lasted. Very good lacing. The aroma consisted of freshly ground coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. Moderate roast. The flavor was staight forward coffee with some baker’s chocolate. A good deal of roast and coffee that finished smooth. Just a light bitterness. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and had an ample amount of soft carbonation. A decent, mild mannered coffee stout.

Pours a very dark brown color with garnet highlights and a canvas-colored, pillowy, average head which settles somewhat quickly to a very small, frothy layer which leaves minimal, tight lace. Nose is moderately roasted sweet coffee right out of the bottle with lots of dark chocolate, hints at smoke, light notes of vanilla, and faint herbal. Flavor is more roasted and bitter than I thought it would be; expresso is noted first with also a nice sweet backing of semi-dark chocolates and faint carmel, and other notes of light toasted grains and light smoke into the finish. The moderately high bitterness is nearly all from the coffee as well as the moderately high acidity. Palate is light to medium, silky, and soft to lively, a bit drying as well. Finishes fairly long and bitter with smoke and herbal hints underneath expresso. A really nice nose with a great balance between sweet malt notes, coffee notes, and other complexities, but the flavor was too coffee dominant and too acidic. The palate had a nice feel but lacked the necessary body. As with most coffee beers of table strength, the coffee is too much for base beer. Good and drinkable, certainly smooth, but not one of the better coffee stouts.

Bottle from Root Cellar. Poured dark brown color with an average frothy brown head that was mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate complex roasted coffee and malt aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy coffee bittersweet flavor with a medium to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Good brew.

Pros: Has some complexity to it. Fully flavored from start to finish. Unique expression of malt. I really think Nils can work magic with malt.

Cons: Thinly bodied. Not a great appearance. Sparse aroma. Only slightly above average for the style.

11.2 ounce bottle from State Line Liquors. Pours a dark reddish brown with a medium head. Fair head retention and good lacing. Aroma is very rich with notes of coffee and chocolate. Taste is bitter coffee with milk chocolate notes as well as a roasted malt finish. Full bodied.