Miner's Daughter Oatmeal Stout

It's been three weeks!  I know!  Football preseason has just finished and let me tell you, I've been too tired to write half a blog or drink a beer let alone even think about blogging about beer.  The beer-free lifestyle has been a hard one, let me tell you.  As promised however, I've been clinging to my many many beers from beercation waiting to review them and finish telling the readers about our awesome beercation!  First up, since my last review came to you from Mountain State Brewing in Thomas, WV, I've brought home one of their flagship beers - Miner's Daughter Oatmeal Stout.  

Beer: Miner's Daughter Oatmeal Stout

Brewery: Mountain State Brewing

Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.2%

Glass: Tulip

Appearance:  Pours dark like West Virginia coal, with about an inch of fluffy dark tan head that drops after a few minutes, leaving a decent lacing on the glass just a bit of fluff on top.

Aroma: Very light but with a noticeable malt.  Not a lot in the way of aroma, but I've often found that the oats sometimes take away from that and leave a more clean nose.

Body & Texture: A bit more medium bodied, on the thin side of a stout.  A moderate creaminess in the mouthfeel is nicely complimented by a carbonation that I can only describe by saying yes it's medium, but it's a heavy medium - you know, that wet sort of carbonation that brings across the creaminess you get from the oatmeal without taking away from that buff stout body.

Taste:  Flavor is light and pleasing with malt and of course obvious oatmeal notes.  Just barely sweet with some very light notes of chocolate that could either come from malt or perhaps cocoa nibs.  A slight metallic tinge that reminds me of the water we drink every time we're camping up there.  (This is not bad - this is awesome!)

Overall:  If I had to sum this up in one short sentence, I would say that this is a summer stout.  By that I mean that it is a big enough beer for your average burly man hair on your chest stout drinker, but at the same time it is light and refreshing enough to have a full glass of and enjoy on a warm summer evening.  I've enjoyed this both fresh and aged, this bottle happened to be aged about six months.  Fresh I would have called it slightly watery but still delicious and quite enjoyable.  Once let sit for a bit, this beauty gains a little more body and power.  A nice mild stout either way, I know it's sacrilege, but have a cold one with your barbecue - you will not be at all sad you did.  

Read more about Mountain State in my previous post, or check out their website at http://mountainstatebrewing.com/