The Poet

This dark brown beer’s aroma was accentuated by roasted malts up front with no discernible hop character. The carbonation was fine with small, tight bubbles. The flavor had a nice roastiness balanced with good bittering hops, but the beer seemed a little light in mouthfeel and body for an oatmeal stout. Using oatmeal can be a tricky situation (stuck mash anyone?), and most brewers use only a 5-10 percent oatmeal ratio to the rest of the grain bill to eliminate that worry. Additional crystal malt would boost the overall body and mouthfeel of this beer, but overall, it had a smooth, roasty finish making for a solid, though slightly uninspiring, oatmeal stout.