Wolaver's Organic Oatmeal Stout

Anyone ever had this? My sister-in-law picked up a sixer last night and brought it home.

She popped one open and poured it into a glass. It looked pretty good sitting there with a nice little tan head on it. She offered the glass to me to sample, and the first thing I thought as it got near my face was, "Wow.. that's a strange smell. Very familiar, but I can't place it. Not a BAD smell, but not something I would expect in a beer."

I whiffed it a few times trying to place the scent, gave up and took a swig.

I was not impressed at all. It seemed smooth enough on the tounge, but that not-bad-but-not-belonging-in-beer smell had an even more apparent flavor. I took another swig, still trying to figure out what I was tasting in there, but... no luck.

Then my wife came into the kitchen and asked to try it. I gave it to her and she took a pull.

"That tastes like sesame. Nasty."

BINGO!

This had a very strong aroma and flavor of sesame seed oil. This, IMHO, does not belong in a beer. I don't know if they actually put sesame seeds in their mash or if the flavor came from something else, but I didn't care for it one little bit.

-walker

Wow. That's not a taste / smell that I think I would ever expect in a beer. I wonder if it's an off flavor from the oats they use or perhaps the hops.

LupusUmbrus said:

Wow. That's not a taste / smell that I think I would ever expect in a beer.

Click to expand...

Which is exactly why I was having so much trouble identifying it!

I have no idea what it came from, but I can assure you I won't be drinking any of the sixer in the fridge. It might be good for cooking with, but not for drinking.

-walker

According to their website, "it is brewed with organic rolled oats, organic wheat, and of course organic barley and hops."

I must admit, after having many of these last year, I am certainly looking forward to picking some up (this seasonal recently became available again). Unless they changed the recipe or fouled something up, I found this to be one of the better stouts I sampled. I guess I'll have to pick some up tonight and give it another go. What I recall it having was a good mouth feel, lots of nice roasted (or is it toasted) flavor, maybe even a hint of smokiness. I'll report back after the weekend. Sesame never came to mind last year...