Southern Tier is one of those companies that I seem to be drawn toward more and more when scanning the shelves of my local shop. This imperial oatmeal stout can be found in their Blackwater Series of imperial stouts. The only other brew I’ve had from this series is the Mokah — the 6 month old bottle the other night was phenomenal.
Appearance
Oat pours a dark, dark brown with a large mocha colored head.
Aroma
The brew smells quite rich with a light oatmeal leading into dark chocolates and slightly roasted coffee. There’s a late hint of the 11% ABV in there as well.
Taste
There is much more oatmeal in the taste with quite a dry finish. The chocolates and the roasted coffee are definitely there and work well together, but they’re a bit behind the the oats. I don’t mind the oats, but it’s a bit too much for my liking. There’s really not that much heat from the higher ABV, but it’s there.
Overall
This is a tasty imperial oatmeal stout, but, like I stated previously, there’s a just a touch too much oat for my personal liking. That said, however, I still enjoyed the hell out of this one.
Rating: 3.5/5
