283. McAuslan St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

This is our first beer from McAuslan Brewing, which is located in Montréal, Canada. We had this on tap at South Park Tavern out of the nitro tap; we also had this after the DRAFT meeting, so our notes are minimal and a bit scatter-shot. I know you’ll forgive us, because you’re indulgent like that. Plus, there’s little recourse at this juncture—just know we drank our beer for the day.

St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout pours a dark chocolate color with a thick creamy head and starts with a sweet roasted malt nose. The beer is pretty much roasty front to back; there is more richness and sweetness in the front, and the end is smooth and soft, although still with the lingering roasty flavors. St-Ambroise has a soft mouthfeel and a lower carbonation level, although it is still very creamy. While it is a good beer, there wasn’t as much variety or complexity of flavor as we anticipated; this is probably the result or one of two things: either this beer is not that complex or nuanced, or our palates are pretty much wrecked from our earlier escapades. We’ll leave it as an open question for our readers to determine.

From the McAuslan website: “At the World Beer Championship in 1994, St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout received the second highest rating of the over 200 beers in the competition and it won one of only nine platinum medals awarded. Brewed from 40 percent dark malts and roasted barley, this intensely black ale carries strong hints of espresso and chocolate. Oatmeal contributes body and a long-lasting mocha-colored head to this well-hopped beer.”

ABV: 5.0%

(4/9/2010)