Evanston Avenue Brewery - Old 31 Oatmeal Stout

Old 31 Oatmeal Stout

ABV: unknown
IBU: mid range
SRM / coloring: dark brown to amber

Hello again everyone!  Well it's been a while since I've written a review, the holidays were essentially a long series of good events, great events, and bad events so I've been a little occupied.  But not much can hold me back from the beer, so lets get to it.

First up is a great new beer from a brewery you've probably never heard of, and honestly might never come across.  Evanston Avenue Brewery is the home brewing operation of a friend of mine from work.  I just got hooked up with a new job (great event) and for christmas she was kind enough to give me a sample of her Old 31 Oatmeal Stout.

First off I was simply impressed by the bottling of the beer, tall brown glass with an actual bottle cap on it; pretty nice for a home brewery.  With our basic home brewing kit we have plastic screw top bottles, so this is stamped and approved official.

Now this beer is titled an oatmeal stout and certainly has the strong heavy flavor characteristic of stouts, but the real kicker here is the coffee.  From beginning to end you get a big ol hit of coffee, smell and taste, which if you're into coffee (like me) then you'll love it.  It has a medium to heavier body, and comes off just a bit sweet on the end which is unique for both stouts and coffee flavored beers.  With a little more work, Old 31 Oatmeal Stout could be a real heavy hitter.