Young’s Oatmeal Stout
By John & Dad on March 21, 2007 @ 7 PM (No Comments)
Note: Young’s Oatmeal Stout was reviewed by both John and Dad on different days and originally posted as two separate reviews. We usually do our combined reviews together in one post, so this post has been edited to bring you both reviews on one post.
Son Beer Love Review (March 21, 2007):
I’ve tried other oatmeal stouts and Young’s is by far my favorite. Not too bad for a beer from London! It has a tremendously rich taste – it’s a stick-to-your-ribs kind of beer. And as a stout it is a really nice change of pace from the other beers we’ve been trying.
It pours black with a creamy brownish tan head that lasts a long time and laces well. Holding it up to the light you realize it’s not quite black, but a dark dark red.
The aroma is biscuit, chocolate, nut and oats. Another tremendous smell. I’m really getting an appreciation for the smell of beer lately.
The taste is a slightly sweet and complex one – dark malts and roasted barley, chocolate, coffee, nut and oatmeal. The mouthfeel is superb – right in the middle – not too thick and not too thin. The finish is good and smooth – the bottle touts a distinctive finish reminiscent of toast and you do get that. You also pick up another hint of coffee and a slight touch of hops.
The beer is better the warmer it is – let it sit out of the fridge for 45 minutes or so to really warm up. Absolutely a good go-to beer when you need a change of pace or even when you don’t. It’s a good stand alone beer as well – no need to balance with food, just sit back and enjoy. I drank it right on the “Best Before” date of 21 Mar 07. Truly a top beer!
Father Beer Love Review (March 22, 2007):
I had one of these @ John’s the night before we flew to Munich and hadn’t been able to find it locally. I remember it favorably but didn’t review it. I gave it 25 min. out of the box to warm as it’s a .5L, what a civilized size.
Beer temp. 49.6F. Pours a dark ruby brown with a caramel colored head. Aroma is coffee and molasses. Flavor is distinctly stout but with an unusual smoothness. This is definitely a sweet stout which is right up my alley. The heavy malts really come through with deep caramel and molasses flavors predominating. Color cleared after settling and is a surprisingly beautiful ruby brown. Flavor lingers a while on the tongue but not overly long. It feels rich in the mouth and coats the whole mouth and tongue evenly. Head has been weak and thin, not clinging to the sides of the glass. Nice smoky rich flavor lasts all the way down the bottle. Not quite the complexity of flavors and aromas of my favorite Mackeson but is countered by its unusual smoothness.
A definite keeper. Maybe next time I’ll use a pub glass to give the head a better chance. Wish I could find it here.
