St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Stout
Montreal, Canada

Head is initially large, frothy, brown, fully lasting. Body is absolutely opaque black. Aroma is moderately malty (mild coffee, toasted dark bread, dark chocolate, roasted grain), lightly hoppy (herbs), with light notes of clove and vanilla. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately bitter, lightly acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately bitter, lightly acidic. Medium body, creamy texture, lively carbonation, lightly astringent. Well-earned high ranking...easy drinking (not heavy or too sweet), yet it doesn’t lack mouthfeel or character. Rich and clean chocolate-and-coffee aroma, wonderful flavor balance. As with Fuller’s London Porter, this excels in all categories and doesn’t require much alcohol to do so. Thanks to Monsieur Oakes for sending me this one.

Bottle. Thanks to my parents for bringing this one home. Creamy lightbrown good fully lasting head. Black colour. Nice malty dark chocolate aroma. OK flavor, but just too much coffeenotes to be great. OK palate. Good stout but not a beer to travel round the world for.

July 01: Gorgeous dark head on top of a completely opaque black body, rich caramel/chocolate nose with a flavor to match; only problem for me is the too-bitter aftertaste (for the style, anyway). Actually better from the bottle than on tap, at least in this town.

Apr 03: no longer available in Vermont, I had to get this from my neighbor to the North (thanks MartinT). Wow what a gorgeous glas of beer, opaque and with a head you think you could take a nap on. I appreciate the strong roastiness much more now; this is truly a world-class stout. Though if this is "sweet" than what is Mackeson? Double-extra-sweet?

Bottle from Wine & Cheese Place in (near) St. Louis, MO. Opaque black color with a humongous multi-finger dark tan head. Smells of toasted/burnt malt, vanilla & coffee. Could be very light smoke. Essentially medium body with mild, smooth carbonation. Flavor is toasted/burnt malt with some strong coffee. There is a really light touch of smoke. Finish is pretty balanced - neither sweet nor bitter. Good stout.

Thanks for the beer, pintbypint. Black body with traces of a light tan head. The aroma is rich coffee and vanilla. There is also some fresh grain. The taste is rich coffee, vanilla, dark chocolate and some burnt toast. There is also some fresh apples. The mouthfeel is thick and sticky. An excellent stout.

Chocolate and coffee with an almost liqueur-like sweetness in the nose. Dark brown opaque body with a milk-chocolate coloured finger-wide head that is fully diminishing with some lacing. Rather hoppy but well-balanced with additional bitterness from the dark roasted malts. Bitter dark chocolate and strong coffee with raisin like fruit flavour. Long, dry, roasty finish. Creamy smooth mouthfeel with light, fine-bubbled carbonation that tickles the tongue and a very dry finish with lingering black malt bitterness. Bottle. Every time I have this whether on tap or in the bottle, I am again amazed by how wonderful it is. We are truly lucky to have a brewer of such fine calibre in our city! Available also on tap as the ’house’ stout at McKibbins Irish Pub.

Really looked forward trying this at the summer party. Multilayered hue and a nice tan head, good lacing. Full-bodied. Awesome aroma with vanilla and chocolate hints, espresso, prunes and oats (duh). Taste was balanced between malts and hops, vinous. Fizzy to start but softer mouthfeel as I drank it. Outstanding beer, worthy of the praise, but I still like Samuel Smith's Oatmeal better.

Bottle at home ... Deep red black ... big thick foam head ... nice deep chocoalte malty nose Sweet roast decent fruity roast malt ... little smokey some rich chocolate .