I'm reviewing this one for International Stout Day. It was given to me by a friend during a night of drinking. My apologies for the poor picture quality. I used my phone for the photo since I did not have my camera on hand at the time.
The Poet by New Holland Brewing Company is out of Michigan, USA. The Poet is an Oatmeal Stout coming in at 5.20% abv.
I poured the stout from the bottle into my trusted Newcastle Brown Ale Schooner glass.
Look: The body is almost a pitch black with a bit of some ruby red showing through when light hits it. Murky, unclear...sort of reminds me a bit of coffee. The head poured about 2 inches with a bit of retention. It stuck around for a bit but as I let it sit to warm a little, the head said it's good byes and deflated down to about a half an inch. The little bit of head that was left managed to stick around until the end of the party.
Smell: Ah...toasted wood, some grilling charcoal, and a bit of spicy cedar. The malt breaks through and gives off the scent of some sweet toffee, burnt coffee and bitter, baker's chocolate. The smell is very inviting. I wonder if they make car scents like this?
Taste: Up front you get drawn in with some sweetness from the malts. A bit of caramel and toffee. Some underlying chocolate donut-like sweetness. Some smokiness kicks in from the oats that adds a bit of a smoked bacon flavor. Does anyone else get that from oatmeal stouts? Smoked bacon...Anyways. The sweetness then drops off into a bit of a biting bitterness. Sort of caught me off guard. Some bitter coffee and pomegranate, grapefruit twang bursting through to even the drink out very well. I will say this though, the flavors are a bit muted and not as robust as I would like from this style.
Mouthfeel: Very crisp and refreshing, yet, it is still a full bodied brew. They got this one down. The carbonation is very muted, yet this brew just slides down like it's nothing.
Overall I'll have to say that this is a very good offering of the Oatmeal Stout genre of beer. New Holland knows how to brew A good oatmeal stout, kudos to them.
I'll give New Holland Oatmeal Stout A 4/5
Why not A 5? Well Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout has always been my favorite. I don't have a review up for this but I'll have to work on it. The flavors were a bit muted and not that robust or in your face. Which some people will like and some people will still like, but want more of. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good beer...I just felt like I wanted a bit more from the flavor area. I would still recommend this beer to anyone who loves stouts or even someone who was just trying to get into the style.
I hope everyone had a great Stout Day and enjoyed many stouts they loved or even discovered new ones.
