You read right, this is an unusual beer alright, called Red Velvet it brings to mind the taste of the very red velvet cake it is named after but it is made with beets! Yes beets, who would dare add beets to beer? Well read on my friends!

Ballast Point Brewing - Red Velvet Nitro Oatmeal Stout

Stats

• Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing - San Diego, California, USA
• Alcohol Content: 5.5% by volume
• IBUs: 33
• Company Description: This stout takes the cake. Our Red Velvet oatmeal stout is a mind-bending beer. Like the cake that inspired it, the deep red color comes from beets, which add a rich, earthy character that complements the chocolate flavor and aroma. The foamy head of the nitro pour is our “icing”, adding a creamy smoothness to the mouthfeel. But this liquid dessert still finishes like a beer – not sweet, but just as satisfying.

Presentation
This beer comes in a 12 oz brown bottle with very attractive and cool wrap around graphics on the body and the classic Ballast Point logo on a small neck label. The wrap about is actually a very thin plastic which has Ballast Points trademark skeletons enjoying a sumptuous feast lead by their King who is enjoying a beautiful red velvet cake. There are also pouring instructions on the label (which I ignored to my detriment). Ballast Point sells beer in 12 oz bottles and cans and 22 oz bottles. They have a pretty wide distribution and are more of a macro brewery with the number of beers they produce and ship out across the nation and internationally also I believe.

The Beer

• Appearance: This beer is a dark red and I messed up with the pour but since it is a nitro, it should have a lovely head, my bad on the pour though, so none in the picture.
• Aroma: It had an earthy aroma, very slight hints of chocolate and malts.
• Taste: It is a very light beer for a stout, and believe it or not, it indeed does taste like red velvet cake. Hard to believe with beets in it. Subtle Chocolate and oatmeal also.
• Mouthfeel: Very smooth in the mouth and around the tongue, thanks to the nitro. Had a sweet finish but not overly.
• Drinkability: A very drinkable beer, I would envision myself having several at a sitting. Lightly sweet with that rich cake finish, yum. And at 5/5% abv, not going to knock you on your ass after a few.

Rating and Final Thoughts

This is the second time I have had this beer, so I have rated it twice on Untappd, the first time I gave it a lofty 4.5, the second I actually lowered the rating to 4.25, as it just didn't seem to taste the same. Still a very good beer as @dennisauburn will agree as I talked him into trying it a few weeks back. Six friends have drank and rated it an average of 3.92, while Untappd in general feels it is a 3.54 beer. I contend no matter the beer taste you favor you will find this to be a good beer. Not overly sweet but still tastes like cake! I mean come on, who doesn't like Cake?

4.33/5

This post will make it to #BeerSaturday so if you do enjoy my review, go check the Week 40 contest out and give it a vote over there also. Please feel free to comment and give me a follow. I will be adding a lot more beer reviews in the future. Thanks and Cheers!