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.
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