Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

Another Rogue, another delivery of their patented Pacman yeast strain.

This one needed to be sampled again on tap as the original photo was lost, however according to the bottle pictographs I had determined this one goes with "cows' heads" and/or "pies and wine". The container also informs us this is the 'world stout champion', though I'm not sure when or in which competition.

It's a really deep reddish brown pour, not quite on solid black, good for a six percenter. Aroma here is predominately chocolates .. wonder if it's chocolate malts driven, or some sort of addition? In any case it's pretty much the driving force here for both the aroma and flavour profile.

The beer itself definitely sits squarely in the chocolate stout camp but has a lovely round body to it that belies the comparatively low percent. Full flavoured through stages of chocolate, hops, and a burnt dry roastiness that keeps you coming back for more.

This is not a groundbreaking sort of a beer, but at the same time it's hard to complain when you can't think of much they could have done better. Excellent. 8.5

Nøgne Ø Havrestout

Are you waiting for someone?

Why not drink a stout in the park? At night? By yourself? From the bottle?

.. what do you mean, alcoholic?

I'll have you know I selected this specifically for its low alcohol (4.5%) and to see if those prodigies from Nøgne Ø could succeed in a quest I must admit I found unlikely: to make a full flavoured, easy drinking stout for the masses at a low ABV.

The nose is pleasant but introverted here and to be honest, the beer itself is more of the same. Light coffee, sultana, it's none of it unpleasant but a little fizzy in the mouth. I feel Nøgne have succeeded in producing a stout here that avoids some of that 'empty', watery character that plagues a lot of lighter efforts. In doing so however they've hit up against the reality of the limitations of such a lightweight body and produced a beer that arguably, fails to deliver some of the real pleasures of darker beers.

This beer may be an OK gateway introduction to those unaccustomed to the world of stout, but personally I think it's more the stigma attached to dark beers, rather than their alcohol content that really puts people off. 6.5

Renaissance Craftsman Chocolate Porter

Another porter from the NZ crew at Renaissance - after surprising with their first one, could they deliver another cocoa winner?

This time around the brew is explicitly a chocolate oatmeal porter and so starts life with some quite clearly defined targets at which to aim. But while it hits the mark with the basic chocolate vanilla roast characteristics of the aroma and flavour, there's a disappointing lack of real smooth velvet body that keeps it from hitting greatness. I also felt it was perhaps a little green in the middle .. but upon checking it was approaching the end of its 'best before', not the start (and yes, it was a best before rather than a best after).

So, a recommendation? To me it depends on price. If you see this for cheap, it will not let you down. But if you've access to Mildura Brewery's Choc Hops for example you'll save some dosh and procure a better beer in the process. 7.0

Bootleg Oatmeal Stout

As previously noted, I haven't been too impressed with Bootleg brewing of late - could a beer in one of my favourite styles turn things around?

In short - not quite. This beer pours thin and headless, not a good start although the hue is nicely opaque. The aroma similarly is a step or two short of truly enjoyable beer, showing a bit of spikiness and slighly clumsy notes in there somewhere. There's aniseed and licorice in the nose, which may be nice in a more rounded beer but here it comes off as slightly unbalanced and almost unintentional.

Taste-wise the mouthfeel is too watery to really score points, and the taste carries a little too much licorice for my liking. There's none of that delicious silky character or rounded taste that oatmeal typically adds, and I can't say it's a particularly good example of the style.

I wanted this to be good, but I find myself really not liking it a great deal - it strikes me as a beginner sort of effort and just not quite up there in terms of quality. It would be great to see Bootleg build on this and produce a top quality beer in this style in future. 4.5

Mikkeller Beer Hop Breakfast

Mister Mikkeller and The Philosopher's Stout.

Similar character to its twin in terms of the quality pour and body, but this certainly lashes with a lot more bitter grassy hops embedded in the ol' cat o' nine ales. Quite bitter and aggressive, bit confronting but certainly well made at 7.5%. You don't get any alcohol, just all the beautiful layers the gypsy embeds in these beverages.

If I had to choose, I'd go with the Beer Geek Breakfast instead. But this too was a quality drop and well recommended for those who enjoy hoppier stouts. 8.0

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Hohoho, back to Mikkeller in what seems to be his natural habitat: dark beers.

Given the name of this we made sure to test it in its own natural habitat also: breakfast.

It's a pretty angry looking pour with a small but violent ochre red-brown head, and indeed an angry nose on it too. Absolutely flat out of the bottle; no hint of bubble. Roasty flavours dominate with a backbone of coffee and a bit of dark choc. The feel is slightly abrasive on the throat though, probably due to the big bitter hop content there is in this beer also. It all feels expert though, as if the roving gypsy's really enjoying himself here, having fun with his pet sport.

Next time, I'm putting this up against some bacon, egg, bbq tomato, and hashbrowns. I'm certain it will shine. 9.0

===
Edit: after putting away some more of this and finding myself thinking about it constantly I'm bumping it up to 9.5. Do yourself a favour, seriously.