St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Stout
Montreal, Canada

4/27/08: Sampled in the presentation tent at WBF Raleigh. Dark black with a very large brown head. Strong oat aroma with banana and spice. Taste of oats, coffee, caramel. Light smokiness. Thick and chewy texture. Tongue-coating. 7/3/8/4/16/3.8

Rerate: 5/31/08... Bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville. Very dark pour with a one finger brown head, low head retention and no lacing. Sweet malty and nutty aroma with notes of oatmeal and a subtle smokiness. Taste is bitter coffee with the oats coming later. Just enough smoke to not be offensive to my rauschbier hating self. Yum. 6/3/8/4/15/3.6

Deep black, thick bubbly tan head, sheets of chocolate milkshake lace coat the glass on the way down. This is one very thick chewy stout. Flavors are strong and well balanced between the sweetness (a little fruit in the flavor too) and a nice roastiness. Dry finish

Black with creamy brown head.Lighly alcoholic roasted nose. Heavily roasted dry malt flavor. Great lace.

Poured a dark black color with no red or brown edges. The head was appreciable, nice chocolate tan color with excellent lacing. The aroma was of dry dark cocoa and very light coffee. Flavor was a nice combination of roasted malts, dark cocoa and coffee with a dry roasted oatmeal finish. A bit acidic / lactic in the finish, somewhat bitter for a sweet stout (exactly what an oatmeal stout tends to be, though). Light hops in the finish to keep this "sweet" stout from running away with any sweet / malt absurdness (ie. definite bitter statement in the end). Light smoke aftertaste. Mouthfeel is thick but not syrup-like, somewhat dry. A nice beer, but probably not in my overall top 25 list. One sampling (May ’06) of this left me with a touch of bubblegum and currants in the flavor beneath everything else above. Not sure if the bottle was getting too old or what, but that was only one out of my five or more experiences with this brew.

Bottle - Opaque black brew with a medium head that dissapate too quickly. Excellent Chocolate and coffee aroma with a sweet taste. Good roastiness and good body. I would be curious to try this one on tap...

I finally got my hands on this beer after years of trying to get some. It pours with a black body topped by a thick brown head with lots of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet yet slightly bitter with a nice roastiness and a slight touch of vanilla. It’s not overly aromatic but very nice. The flavor is roasty, malty and coffeeish with a slight sweetness, and a nice bitterness. The finish is nice and roasty. This is a beer I could drink all the time. Full bodied, smooth and slightly dry.

Pours perfectly opaque black with a head like a chocolate milkshake. The aroma is big and bold with a slight lactic quality and a suggestion of tartness. The flavor is nicely roasty but balanced by the softer dark malts. Comes across like chocolate charcoal. Despite a slight harshness, the overall effect is a very soft beer. Oily on the tongue.

Pours very dark mahogany with a compact dark khaki head. Delicate, jagged lines of lacing circle the glass. The aroma shows roasty coffee and baker’s chocolate, with gobs of smoothing oatmeal, oak, and vanilla. Ultimately, the roast dominates the nose. Similarly, the flavor is of charred oak kissed chocolate and coffee malts. Oatmeal really adds alot, as this one would ultimately be too roasty if it weren’t for the soothing effects of the grain. Drinks very smooth, but falls a bit short on body. Carbonation is a tad bit overly active. Finishes long and roasted. Nice brew, but certainly overrated.