St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Bière noire d’ébène, opaque mais brillante. Donne un très mince col de mousse café au lait qui s’accroche longtemps. Le nez est torréfié et terreux : café brûlé, farine rôtie, mélasse, sésame grillé, argile. Le goût reprend les arômes, pas trop sucré ni trop amère : très bien équilibrée. Même si on parle en général de café, de moka et de chocolat, moi ce sont les arômes de terre qui me frappent et me séduisent particulièrement. Ça évoque le souvenir des ragoûts qu’ont prépare avant Noël. La bouche est assez crémeuse et un peu poudreuse. La bière est bien pétillante, sans trop mousser. J’ai été surpris de voire cette bière parmi les meilleures au Québec, devant la maudite, mais je comprend maintenant pourquoi. Il faut dire que l’habit est modeste, plus proche d’un embouteillage commercial que d’un produit raffiné. Elle me ramène à l’un de mes genres préféré, la stout.

Many thanks to Mr. Skyview! Black color with a thin head. Slightly smoky aroma with a little Lysol character. Very peppery taste. Black pepper. It’s kind of like eating kippered beef jerky. Salty and bone dry malt. A little chocolate and coffee. I don’t know how they think this could be a sweet stout, but I love it all the same.

Bottle from homebrew mystery swap. Dark brown to opaque black with beautiful dark brown medium head. Aroma is really smoky, rauch-like with burnt chocolate malt, pretty dry, some vanilla, pretty nice though one-sided. Once again rausch flavor with burnt malt, some coffee, but still smoke dominated. Very thin body but somewhat creamy. Nice smooth body with nice flavor and aroma but still very one sided, though I can see why this beers stands up amongst the others.

A Sim rate (bottle at ChrisO’s): Coffee, brandy, vanilla, pecan and mmm... irish coffee in the aroma. It smells like those fancy little pots of cream that you can get in the states for your coffee. Nice color with a brown head. Flavour is a bit of a letdown after the aroma which was so promising. Bit of sherry in there. Not much coffee, but it’s got the Bailey’s. Quite nice, but wish it tasted more like the aroma.

April 2006 - What a beautiful beer! Poured almost jet black with a little red showing around the edges with huge dark tan head. Lacing left all over the glass when done. Roasty malt aroma leapt from the glass and could be smelled during the pour. The first sip wow’ed me and got me in trouble because my wife was mid-sentence and then she said, "You’re not even listening to me...you’re looking at that stupid beer!" Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do...and I had to appreciate the beer. eaglefan538 hit the flavor on the head...a bit bitter and lactic tasting. I really wanted it to be smoother and lose the bitterness and this could have been up there with the super-elite. As it is, it’s still probably up near tops of the class...just lost the opportunity for "a moment."

11.5oz bottle. Pours fairly dark black with a big foamy light brown head that leaves thin but plentiful lacing down the glass. Aroma is subtle, roasty, chocolate, slight dark fruits, a little chalky and just a bit of smoke. Aroma greatly improves as it warms, containing the same qualities just amplifying and improving each one. Very nice aroma for a standard stout. Taste is smooth, a little roasty and smoky with a considerable watery component. Mouthfeel is silky yet still a little thin-bodied for my tastes. The body and watery taste hurt this otherwise nice stout. Kalamazoo bests this by a considerable amount I think.

Pours black with a 4 finger high, foamy, brown head. The aroma is coffee, fry oats, and bitter cocolate. Flavors are Bitter coffee and floral hops with a little chocolate hidden in there. Very creamy, almost oily, mouthfeel.

One of my favorite stouts. Combines a great rich coffee flavor with a smooth drinkability. Great dark body with a tan head. A great stout all around.