American Oatmeal Brown tasting

Catching up on my tasting notes! I fairly tore through this batch of hoppy American brown ale with oats, but managed to show enough restraint to keep a final bottle for tasting notes. It's had a little while to hang out in the fridge, but I don't think the time has really detracted from the overall impact of the beer. The way fruity American hops combine with the cocoa and roast character of the dark grains is fantastic. I doubt I'll drink browns all the time, but I certainly won't avoid them as I once did.

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Date: 16 February 2015

Venue: Our house

Appearance - Nearly black, opaque; big-bubble cappuccino foam drops after a few minutes.

Smell - Lots of orange, a little pine.

Taste - Pine, chocolate covered orange. Not a lot of malt presence. Solid bitter finish.

Mouthfeel - Light-medium body; gets nicely thick & creamy when chewed.

Overall - This was the last regular bottle, and it's mellowed a bit. The hops still sing pretty well, though, especially when it's warmed up a little. The effect of the oats on the mouthfeel was definitely worth repeating. On a rebrew I might back off the dark grains to achieve more of a brown color and further restrain the roast character. Pretty damn tasty, and very happy with how it came out.