Beer # 104 Trafalgar Ale and Meads Smoked Oatmeal Stout

Smoked Oatmeal Stout

Trafalgar Ale and Meads

Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Smoked Oatmeal Stout 5.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$4.55 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @trafalgarales

Today's beer has the more tenuous connection to the St. Patrick's Day beers I have in my fridge of fame this week. Its only connection is that it's a stout, and Ireland is famous for stouts... and it's made with oatmeal. But it was available at my local and I decided to throw one into the mix anyway. I haven't been down to Trafalgar in a while, they are an excellent brewery West of Toronto and they produce some very interesting brews. Including a couple of very high alcohol brews "Black Bullet" and "Korruptor." (neither of which I can seem to find anymore... someone message me if they are still being made?)

Enough reminiscing... onto the beer.

Inky dark brown in colour with a light tan head made up of small bubbles that disperse quickly. Opaque but with a slight reddish hue when held up to the light. Aroma is sweet, dark, syrupy, molasses, and roasted malt, with just a hint of whiskey barrel. First sip reveals a beautifully light and refreshing ale with fruity hints. There is sweetness at all levels through the taste and the smoke holds out for the very end, like a distant fire smelled across a snowy field at night. Excellently balanced between sweet, smoke, malt, and molasses. Aeration gives us a hint of the oatmeal and more smoke.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

This beer is the antithesis of what the layman considers a "Dark" or "Stout" beer... but in a good way. This is what a stout SHOULD taste like. Restorative, refreshing, not a lot of alcohol, light bodied, and fruity. The smoke in this is perfect it is not distracting from the beer as many other smoked beers I have tried. It sets up a foundation, a backbone that the rest of the flavours can build on. In a world where everything is taken to excess, where, more hops, more smoke, more everything is quickly becoming the norm... It is nice to find a beer that is what it is advertised as, a good easy drinking brew. Highly drinkable, definite reorder, but always better to share with a friend.

Cheers
CJT


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