Goatmeal Stout: An Amateurish BeerSaturday Review

Oh, man. This was gonna be a great review. I had plans. Professional photos. Glamor shots next to dinner. Pompous flavor profile analysis. The whole works.

Then this happened when I opened the bottle:

Upside-down image upload? Oh, well. I'll leave it. It reflects my confusion at this event!

I have no idea why this happened, but I got a beer fountain. Driving my gravel road doesn't usually do this to beverages. It did tip out of the bag and roll a bit, but still, this is unusual. Oh, well. I let it settle a bit and tried pouring a glass.

Oh, boy. It looks like I pour a beer worse than Hillary Clinton! With that shameful thought in my mind, I drink from the bottle. And here the story takes a turn for the better. This is a decent beer. From the bottle:

An austere buck, the Goatmeal pours pure chocolate brown, with a thick mocha-colored head.

I'll have to take their word for it.

Dark and delicate notes of espresso and cocoa swirl lusciously on the tongue, gliding smoothly to a sweet-dry finish.

Excessively flowery, but that works as a description. The bottle also says this is made from just water, malt, oats, hops, and yeast. 5.7% ABV is within standard stout territory. I would say it tastes a tad flat, but the carbonation fountain of doom is probably responsible for that, and the beer itself is probably fine normally. I think I still prefer Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout from England, but this is not bad at all. I should give it another go sometime with a bottle that hasn't been as abused as this one apparently was.

Check out the brewery website here.