oatmeal coffee stout i stone hammer Brewing
Guelph, ON
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 30
Style: Oatmeal stout
Colour: Fuscia
Price: $2.95/473ml can
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 30
Style: Oatmeal stout
Colour: Fuscia
Price: $2.95/473ml can
Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout. Good beer, terrible packaging. I know, I know, who cares right? I do god dammit. You gotta come correct in this day and age with so much market saturation and fantastic marketing. It's and endless sea of great-looking cans out there, and Stone Hammer's packaging looks like something from a Canadian macro value-brand circa 2003. I feel like I could whip up a better label on the first version of Microsoft Publisher. Fret not though, because it's a solid beer and that's what really matters (providing you can convince someone to buy it for the first time when there's 150 other beers beside it that looking sharp). But really, you had me at stout. You also had me at oatmeal. And you also had me at coffee.
When you combine a balanced nutritious breakfast, a robust local coffee (Planet Bean), and the mother of all beer styles, you best not fuck it up, and Stone Hammer has not. And although it doesn't take the title for best "breakfast stout" I've ever had, it will most definitely do in a pinch, and since it can be found at my local grocery store it may find its way into my fridge every now and again. I love the burnt-cookie bitterness of roasted coffee that's apparent in every sip of this beer, a flavour which lends itself beautifully to the natural sweetness of a stout. This is a nicely balanced beer that doesn't come at you with too much of one thing, as it mostly lets the malt do the talking. Unfortunately I found it a little bit thin on the back end, almost tasting watery at the end of every sip, which may be a by-product of the fact that it isn't the thickest and creamiest oatmeal stout out there. It just doesn't have the great mouth-feel that you should be getting with a well executed oatmeal stout. However, if you have the patience to let this beer warm all the way up to almost room temperature, a little bit of this problem is alleviated.
In the end, Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout is definitely doable, but I don't think it will be anyone's all-time favourite.
When you combine a balanced nutritious breakfast, a robust local coffee (Planet Bean), and the mother of all beer styles, you best not fuck it up, and Stone Hammer has not. And although it doesn't take the title for best "breakfast stout" I've ever had, it will most definitely do in a pinch, and since it can be found at my local grocery store it may find its way into my fridge every now and again. I love the burnt-cookie bitterness of roasted coffee that's apparent in every sip of this beer, a flavour which lends itself beautifully to the natural sweetness of a stout. This is a nicely balanced beer that doesn't come at you with too much of one thing, as it mostly lets the malt do the talking. Unfortunately I found it a little bit thin on the back end, almost tasting watery at the end of every sip, which may be a by-product of the fact that it isn't the thickest and creamiest oatmeal stout out there. It just doesn't have the great mouth-feel that you should be getting with a well executed oatmeal stout. However, if you have the patience to let this beer warm all the way up to almost room temperature, a little bit of this problem is alleviated.
In the end, Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout is definitely doable, but I don't think it will be anyone's all-time favourite.
