Boulder Obovoid Empirical Russian Stout

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a deep, oily sable with a thin but fairly persistent buttery-tan head. Smoky aroma has an overtone of miso and notes of molasses, quality coffee, semi-sweet chocolate plus hints of caramel and wood - the latter definitely from the oaking. Flavor has a roast coffee core and subtle notes of caramel, chocolate and wood - typical of a good stout, and enjoyable. Just what I, a stoutie, like. Texture has firm body and just a little fizz. Though not an outstanding stout, definitely worthy of checking, especially if you love stouts and porters.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

On nitro. Beautiful looking 3-layered pour. Very black on the bottom, dark gray/brown middle layer and a creamy dark tan head. Muted aroma of chocolate, roasted malts, light coffee and a hint of oak. Taste is much the same as the aroma with a touch of vanilla evident as well. Mouthfeel was a little too thin. Very good and something I would order again.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

With great patience I sat on this one. Why not save a style you love for that end of the work week, where in the ManCave you can relax and enjoy fine beer? This was worth the wait. An ebony blackness with a big creamy textured, tan head rising robustly above. Some hang time settling into an impressive lacing of thick splotchy film and thick soapy ringlet. In the nose I can sense the oak, and the chocolate and the roastiness. In the thick, creamy, nicely carbonated body I can taste bitterness, roasted sweetness and the phenols so like a great aged whiskey, the oak this beer aged in.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours dark black with a generous head that dissipates to lacing. Aroma is decent, mostly chocolate. Mouthfeel is smooth albeit a bit weak. Flavor is good, with expected chocolate and coffee. I'm getting a smidge of the oak but not much.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled@Monks Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm. Quite much black colour, small brown head. Aroma is caramel, mild sugary notes as well as some roasted malts and chocolate. Flavour is caramel, burnt sugar, some slight roasted malts as well as coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Also some rather wooden notes in the finish.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This had potential to have a slightly higher rating, but lost a bit on the flavor. Although it was a quite enjoyable beer, something about the balance was just a bit off. Nice appearance, dark dark brown near black. Flavor is very roasty, slighty smokey... mainly chocolate, oatmeal, and oaks, but with a good amount of hops. The bitterness reminds me of a strong porter rather than an IPS. Only 7.5%, so it doesn't quite have that super-strong alcohol bite, but feels semi-heavy for that ABV amount. Worth the try, but a bit of a letdown for the price.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

All in all a very solid stout.....but to bill yourself as an oak aged imperial oatmeal stout, well you better bring something grand to the table and this just doesn’t live up to what I was anticipating. Amber~brown body, dark like a porter but not thick as a stout. Nice 3/8" brown head that sticks around followed by some splotchy lacing. Roasted malty aroma with a nice milkiness followed by a some nuts and chocolate. Medium bodied, light for a stout though. Sweet with a balancing bitter aftertaste. It’s approachable and easily consumed just nothing complicated. Fairly typical stout flavor with plenty of burnt and roasted malts mixed with some nuts, coffee and chocolate. Nothing more and nothing less. Although I was hoping for much more with this brew.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

pours near black with brown around the edges. nice chocolate, roasted grain, and coffee aroma. evident, but not overdone. palate is smooth, dry, medium bodied...somewhere between a traditional oatmeal & imperial stout. heavy roasted flavors, rasisins, milk chocolate/cocoa, coffee, and some wood, before a bittersweet hoppy chocolate finish. good stuff.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

It pours oil-black with thin tan head and excellent lace that wraps the glass. Scents of chocolate, coffee, raisins, prunes, light citrus, and mild spices. The mouthfeel is smooth and average-bodied. Flavors of coffee, chocolate, raisins, some nuttiness, tapioca, orange peel, mint, and spice & pepper. Very tasty.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

The beer is pretty well carbonated as it pours with an almost four-finger thick, brown tinged, tan colored head. The beer is opaque and quite black in color, but does show flashes of clear red ruby hues if held up to the light. The aroma is initially a mix of roasted nutty, dark chocolate and burnt berry notes, but then the oak character starts to be noticed. The oak provides a spicy, woody backdrop that adds a bit of sharpness, but it also provides subtle notes of butterscotch and vanillin with accentuate both the berry notes and the chocolate character. The aroma is actually quite nice; it has really struck a solid balance between notes of chocolate, sweet fruit, vanilla laden oak, roast grain and a light spicy oak component. As long as you focus on the aroma in short bursts it is quite complex, though if you linger for too long it becomes dominated by toasted and burnt grain notes.

Quite light for something that alludes to an Imperial Stout on its label, but well within what I expected from a beer of this strength. This has a light sweetness up front that accentuates notes of chocolate, some light vanilla flavors. The beer finishes with a hint of butterscotch, some vanillin derived flavors and a woody kick of oak spice that all mix with a dry, toasted grain / burnt malt character that, along with the hop character, provides a lingering bitterness to this brew. The sharp, roast derived acidity and prickly carbonation keep this beer from being creamy like one would expect from an oatmeal stout, but it does have hints of that character at times. The finish also has a bit of a chalky, dark grain husk character to it at times. Running throughout the flavor profile is a soft mix of vanilla and berry notes that can be pretty interesting at times.

I like that this is quite easy drinking, the oak character is not overly dominant for this "lighter" beer, though it can be a little harsh in the finish at times. This would be much better balanced to my taste if the roast grain had been dialed back just a bit; the oak might be ok at this level then as it could be balanced by creamier oak influence and slightly sweeter malt character. As is, the beer is a little too thin to stand up to both the ample roast grain character and the oak at the same time; it is still tasty and drinkable and the aroma is really quite nice, but it can be a bit too harsh at times. I wonder if a year of age could round this out a bit more.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ