Town Hall Black H20 Oatmeal Stout

Brewed by Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

On tap at brewpub during RBSG planning meeting. Pours an opaque near black brew with a thick and creamy dark tan head. Nice spotty lacing. Aroma of brown sugar, molasses, oatmeal, dark chocolate and a touch of coffee. Taste is medium body, a little acidic, some bitterness in the finish. Palate is smooth and a little watery.

Draft at the brewpub. Aroma: Nice roasted malt aroma with notes of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and light smoke. Some deep caramel and sticky oatmeal as it warms. Appearance: Black in color with a medium khaki head. Head was full and creamy with great retention. Good lacing. Flavor: Roasted malt with notes of coffee, smoke, oats, chocolate, toasted nuts, and light vanilla. Nice malt sweetness throughout, but finishes medium-dry with some roast flavors carrying over. Palate: Medium-full bodied and creamy. Moderate carbonation. Overall: I would have consumed this all day if I could have. Great session-able stout.

Faint chocolate aroma with a creamy brownish head and a dark color. Mild roasted coffee flavor with chocolate undertones and a sweet malty aftertaste.

The first thing you notice is all of the big beautiful cascading going on from the cask pour. Once that settles down (several minutes later) you see that the beer is a deep inky black, with a good two inches of thick brown foam. Even a couple minutes later, this solid cap of foam remains. Each sip leaves a bit of lacing on the side of the glass, but this slowly slides down to rejoin the rest of the foam. So, good foam briefly, or no lace whatsoever, depending upon when you look at it. Solid, but not bold roasted malt and chocolate in the aroma. The malt dominates this brew, mainly a sweetened roasted coffee flavor, but also some bittersweet chocolate and light vanilla. The hops are there, but not prominent. It seems like the bitterness from the coffee, chocolate, and roasted grain is balancing the sweetness. Exceptionally smooth, medium to full bodied, with a soft but prominent carbonation. So tasty the angel on one shoulder says, “Hey, pace yourself, this is nice and rich.” Then the angel on the other shoulder says, “No, don’t listen to him. Don’t pace yourself at all. Drink up, call the bartender over, and order another one.” Which ever angel you listen to, you won’t go wrong. Savored slowly, with a couple refills (thereby pleasing both angels),

Pours dark black with almost no head. Nice roasty aroma as well as a a hint of mocha. Nice balanced flavor with a good punch of malt to offset the slight smokiness.

Tap @ BP. Very nice and drinkable w/ substantial malt background. A nice session stout.

Growler courtesy of Hellomynameis. Thanks, Zac. The aroma is very roasty and coffee accented with some mild chocolate and vanilla notes. It’s much roastier than you get from most sweet stouts, but that is a good thing. The body is black and holds a thumb thick mocha head that quickly compresses down to pencil thickness, but then holds there. <P> The fore is again quite roasty with vanilla, coffee, chocolate, caramel and a hint of ripe dark fruit. The aftertaste is sweeter with less roasted notes and the mouthfeel is creamy with low carbonation and that hefty feel of a good stout despite some thinness to the flavor through the middle. This is a pretty nice brew and I’m tickled pink to have a whole growler to enjoy. Had a pint yesterday and it seems even tastier today.

On tap at Town Hall

This was the second to last sample. It was also a fitting end to the night. While it is not the best sweet stout I have ever tasted it certainly compares favorably in many aspects. Whenever I make a return trip this is sure to be on the list of taps to ask about.

Aroma / Appearance - The body was midnight black with a tan head about a half-finger high. Dirty lacing stuck to the sides of the glass. Despite not having the right glassware, I still picked up a nice bouquet of oatmeal, strong black coffee, vanilla, mocha and some smokiness. Overall it was a very inviting aroma and close to perfect.

Flavor / Palate - Hazelnuts, caramel, oats and roasted expresso dominate the first sip. The mouthfeel is creamy and dense leaving behind a malty aftertaste. I am then reminded of a slice of hot apple pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on top. This is an extremely well done very balanced stout.