Earl
Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro, Vermont, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Oatmeal Rotating|
Score
7.97
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Earl (1911-1985) was our grandfather’s brother; Hill Farmstead Brewery rests upon the land that was once home to him and his 13 siblings. In his honor, this Stout is crafted from American malted barley, Flaked Oats, English roasted malts, American hops, Organic Guatemalan Coffee, our ale yeast, and water from our well. It is unfiltered and naturally carbonated. A silhouette of coffee and malt – an embodiment of complexity and drinkability, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Earl.
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8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Got in a BIF from oline73. 500 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 1/13/2016. Pours pitch black color with a 2 finger dense dark brown head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted oats, caramel, dark bread, toffee, herbal, and floral; with lighter notes of pepper, nuttiness, smoke, char, dark fruit, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, and moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted oats, caramel, dark bread, toffee, herbal, and floral; with lighter notes of pepper, nuttiness, smoke, char, dark fruit, and roast/toasted earthiness. Moderate roast/char and herbal/spicy hop bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted oats, caramel, dark bread, toffee, herbal, floral, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, and moderate earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from roast/hop bitterness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is an outstanding oatmeal stout! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coffee, and moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. The coffee has faded a fair amount as expected given the bottle dating; but this is still a wonderfully well balanced, complex, and spot on example of the style. A highly enjoyable offering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Oct 2016
at 20:03
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
22 oz bottle shared by Huhzubendah, thanks Matt! Black with light tan head. Aromas of dark chocolate, roasty notes, light vanilla. Tastes of dark chocolate, roasty notes, caramel. Full body with a dry finish. Nice stout.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Oct 2016
at 21:07
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Some sharp roast notes and dark chocolate. Light coffee. Black pour with good head and lacing. Bitter finish with caramel note. Bottle thanks to Hauzebender or whatever Matts handle is.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Oct 2016
at 14:23
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Thanks Huhzubendah for sharing the bottle! Poured into a snifter showing coffee rims, black center, and a finger of clean white foam. The nose shows extremely deep and intense roasted coffee notes. This is a big one. The palate is moderately carbonated and light bodied. Very light flavors of coffee with a burnt bitterness on the finish. Very thin on the palate and a big disjunct between the nose and palate, but not bad.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Sep 2016
at 14:18
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Due to artificial lighting, arbitrary rating for Appearance. Slightly aged sample Pouring viscously. Toffee, coffee beans from the chocolate shop, and some real coffee. Sweet chocolate, mocha, coffee. Finish yields more bitter coffee, café glacé. Well-bodied, slickness with the velvet from oatmeal. Quite good stout with a lot of coffee. Thanks to M & L V!
Tried
on 23 Aug 2016
at 03:34
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle @ ZZT 2016-1. Black pour. Aroma of roasted coffee and cacao. Nice taste of coffee, licorice, roasted creamy malt and mocha. I like this.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Aug 2016
at 07:56
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
Bottle @ ZZT 2016-1, small sample. Thanks all for sharing! Dark color, medium frothy head. Aroma of oatmeal cookie, coffee. Smooth coffee in taste, soft bitterness, slight cookie sweetness. Nicely balanced. Good beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Aug 2016
at 01:37
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Thank you Benzai! 500 ml. bottle sampled @ ZZT 2016-1. Bottled 13 JAN 2016. Blackish brown, little brown bubbles. Nose is massive cold roasted coffee, very grainy coffee, herbal coffee, roasted coffee,… Vaguely some malt but coffee totally dominates. Taste is cold coffee, low herbal coffee, grainy roasted, herbal, faint malts. Quite bitter in the finish, soft carbonation. Decent & enjoyable brew, coffee totally dominates everything, zero balance, interplay. I still don’t really get why Hill Farmstead fanboys keep talking about how balanced their beers are.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Jul 2016
at 02:34
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pitch black colour, tan head. Coffee aroma, sour note, roasted malts, cacao, oats. Light sour flavour, coffee, bitter roasted malts. Finish coffee, lots of bitterness. Quite nice.
(from 50cL bottle @ ZZT 2016-1. Thanks for sharing, Benzai!)
(from 50cL bottle @ ZZT 2016-1. Thanks for sharing, Benzai!)
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Jul 2016
at 12:48
8.8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Sampled from bottle @ ZZT 2016-1. Opaque pitch black color, medium sized light to medium brown colored head that lasts for a long time. Aroma is malts, massive coffee, dark chocolate, mocha. Taste malts, dark malts, soft roast, dark chocolate, coffee, mocha, bitter. Medium body, soft carbonation. Very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Jul 2016
at 12:42