The Pump House Brewery Limited Muddy River Oatmeal Stout at 4.5% ABV (C$2.29 at NLC Stavanger, 341 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 25-Nov-2017, reviewed 6-Dec-2017)
Appearance: near opaque black with brown relief at the margins, a short, short-lived fizzy beige head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: mild, coffee, toasted malts, light smoke. (7/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium body tending slightly thin, moderate carbonation, dry bitter slightly astringent finish. (3/5)
Mild aromas notwithstanding, I find this too sweet and too thin for my preference, and the thinness ends up translating to a slight astringency in the finish. Nothing offensive, but it doesn’t stand out. I wonder if this bottled version might suffer by comparison to the original draft-only one, but that’s not a hypothesis I’m likely to put to the test any time soon, so as it stands, not one I can recommend making a special effort to locate. (13/20)
6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
