Powerful aroma of coffee. Very dark brown. Rocky head that left a lace on the glass. Multi dimensional with flavors of coffee and some chocolate, finished with sour fruit. Somewhat thin. Rich.

2003 Tap. Hazy orange, with some darker amber/brown tinges. Moderate amount of white head. Smells slightly fruity and hoppy. . . Opens up with a big punch of. . .cascade hops? If not cascades, it’s quite similar. Hmm, citrus on an amber ale? This is interesting. Dries out and texture becomes papery and astringent (mildly). Body is medium to light at best. Malt is not strong, and body tastes soapy. Finishes with some grainy malt texture. Beer is completely lacking of any sweetness. Way to dry and the medium-light body does not ameliorate this. Thought they had given me a bells pale ale after the first sip. 2004 bottle. Tastes like a completely different beer. Quite good, tastes like belgian yeast, light caramel flavor and almost spicey hops as well. Very nice spritzy mouthfeel dosent get boring.

2002 bottle sampled 10/7/2003. Pours a deep black with some tinges of chestnut brown. Medium-sized burnt beige head and lots of sediment. Smells quite roasty, with alcohol and some sweet malt flavor apparent. Lots of lacing. Begins quite dry, medium bitter and acidic. Lots of roasted malt right away. Only after warming does the beer even out and a sweeter more expected flavor comes out. Lots of peppery hops and a bakers chocolate flavor as well. Finish is more smooth with some mildly sweet toffe coming out and a medium coffee roast flavor. Quite unique as far as many other oatmeals. Definitely a lot drier, but still a great flavor. Medium to full body. The finish is great, creamy yet not very sweet, creating a very true, roasty stout-like flavor that is not harsh.
’02 in 2004 After giving this one another year to age, it has proved to be close to perfect. Lightly sweet, with some sticky chocolate malt, low carbonation, vanilla beans, light caramel flavors and finishing with a perfectly genuine coffee flavor. Perfect palate, great aroma (prunes, chocolate, lots of medium roast coffee).
’02 in 2005. . . and this beer just continues to wow me. I really feel like you have to have had the beer young to appreciate how well it has aged. Silky, oily, vinous, tons of oats and chocolate with subdued black malt character and of course, a perfect mouthfeel. Earthy roasted barley lingers on the aftertaste, with prunes, grapes and raisins. Superb.

Jet black. Dirty brown-greige head reduced to rim in secs. Relatively lively pearling for a minute, then all life stops in the tarpits. Nose with chocolate, plums, sweet brandy, alcohol, dried herbs, celeri. Taste is dried cigar ashes, but bitterness overlapping a sweet deep-chocolate sauce made from pure bitterdark chocolate and brown candisugar. After some time, the bitterness betrays itself, linking to the herbal aromas: a megadose of hops; piney notes, the peels of walnut, chicory. And all the time, the chocolate sauce is screaming to get your attention. Viscous liquid, seeming to go solid any minute. Pure body (on alcohol). Aftertaste gets fruity through all the bitterness: black grapes. WOW - exactly right were the Speedway stout had it all wrong. Huge one. Slaínte and big thanks to hey_kevin.

02 Bottle. Pours a magnificent brown with some lighter ruby tinges peeking through. One of the best looking heads Ive seen on a beer, big and creamy and has a wonderful beige/mocha appearance. Aroma is equally huge, sweet and coffee like, with a slight hint of carroway. Tons of lacing in the glass. Begins surprisingly sweet, but just when it may get too sweet, there is the classic bells stout coffee flavor to the rescue. Flavor dries out and there emerges a big, medium sweet, lighlty acidic flavor of alcohol mixed with grains and lots of spice. As the beer warms, the rye flavor is quite noticeable. At first, I passed this one off as just a Kalamazoo Stout with some rye flavor. But this beer has its own personality. The sweetness stays on the palette, even as the coffee flavor comes through. Decent amount of hops throughout, with some roasted barley as well. As it warms to around 58-60, there is a distinct and tasty rye flavor on the finish. It reminds me of Sam Smiths Oatmeal mixed with Kalamazoo Stout (with a rye aftertaste). Good.

2002 bottle shared with Muzzlehatch on 2/18/06. My above rating is pretty on par. Didnt find any alcohol, but the rye and a very dry chocolate covered coffee-bean note are truly wonderful, balancing light caramel sweetness, hints of dry vanilla and still a soothing, if slightly leaner texture. Oxidation is only lightly present and quite enjoyable (nutty, dry marzipan like notes and touches of madeira).