Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout

355ml dark brown bottle, as pictured. Colour is pitch black, with a big, frothy beige head. Great retention, generous lacing. Very pretty beer. ;=) Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt and hazel nuts. White coffee note, too. Heavy-bodied stout with thick, creamy mouth feel. Low carbonation, just right. Flavours include caramel, licorice and coffee. Not too sweet, not too bitter - extremely well balanced - and no "coal like" notes as in Guinness Draught and some other stouts. Dry, bitter finish and lingering espresso after taste. Heavier in style than their "Taddy Porter", a supreme winter beer. One of the great stouts out there, and, with the bitter finish, highly sessionable. A great beer, from a great brewery, of Britain.

Aroma is warm and sweet and represents everything I love about stouts. Sweet and savory nose. Very rich body full of oatmeal and mincemeat (out standing to pair with a mincemeat pie, or bread pudding!) There’s some coffee and molasses in there too. Finishes smooth and malty with some bittersweetness after words. Sometimes this is all the beer I need!

I wasn’t really that blown away by this one. Has a pretty good aroma of oatmeal and malts. Dark color when pour with off white foam head.

Poured from bottle into Imperial Pint. Exceedingly dark brown that might as well as be black. Thin, persistent oatmeal colored head that leaves a trace of lacing. Aroma of roasted barley, light chocolate and dark fruit. Mild smell as most English Ales are, but it lasts throughout the beer and is quite pleasing. Nice semi-sweet roasted malts with notes of chocolate, caramel, dark fruit and oats. Minimal bitterness. Low carbonation, extraordinary smooth and creamy body for a 5% abv beer. The smoothness and the mild roasted malt profile make this a very easy to drink stout. My favorite Oatmeal Stout, but overall I prefer other types of Stout, such as American Stouts, Dry Stouts, Foreign Stouts and Imperial Stouts.

550 mL bottle from Farm Fresh. Wow! I’m really surprised this gets such a positive rating. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good stout but I don’t think it deserves such a high mark. At any rate, here’s my review: Black pour with a creamy tan head. Dark roasted malt aroma with some molasses and faint espresso. Milk chocolate, coffee, and oat flavor. A good, but certainly not great, stout.

Bottle into pint. Dark brown pour with an aggressive dark brown airy head. I’m pretty seriously confused by it’s high rating. Compared to other oatmeal imperial stouts I found this to be very watery and light without much going on in the body of the flavor. I’d much rather have Hoppin’ Frog’s BORIS any day over this.

I am writing this about 2 days after drinking it, so may have to go back and pick up another to give a better qualitative analysis. Pours black and opaque, beautiful finger-and-a-half head which releases an array of aromas: roasted malt, nuts, coffee and oats. Delicious balance on the palate, with just the right amount of oat flavor. All I can imagine is how much better this stout would be if the ABV was, let’s say, doubled...

Pours black with a nice tan head. Aroma is of roasted malt. Medium bodied, and excellent oatmeal and malt flavor. This is definitely the best oatmeal stout that I have had.