As promised, here is my review.
It’s fantastic.
Appearance is a deep opaque dark brown. I think the coffee actually may have shifted this from black to dark brown.
Aroma is almost 100% coffee. It’s a bit shocking, actually.
The first sip is like the aroma, almost 100% coffee, and intense. And you start to think this is overdone. Too intense on the coffee. They messed up the balance on this one.
But then the hops hit you. Glorious Willamette. Coffee on the front end, hops on the back end, and the dark malts lurking in between, popping out here and there. The hoppy aftertaste sucks you in, bringing you back for more and more and more. For anyone who likes coffee and hops, this is ridiculously drinkable. And you have no business ordering this if you don’t like coffee. And if you’re a hop head, well then all is right in the world.
My homebrewed version is now bottle conditioned and is also superb. I shall be getting together with Jason and we will have his version and my version side by side to compare and contrast. He said he made some minor modifications to the recipe. So i’ll find out what he changed and see what impact it had on flavor.
Also note that although i’ve previously reported this would be a one-off release, Jason has stated if this is well-recieved he will probably turn it into a regular fall seasonal. Let us hope.
October 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm
My my, that was honestly the very best homebrew I’ve ever had, and one of the best beers–homebrew or not–that I’ve ever had. I know my beer reviews don’t carry much weight, but boy howdy, that stuff is amazing. thanks for the sample. may your batch increase!
October 16, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Sounds awesome! I just picked up some choice bottles from Alesmith during my trip out West. Hoping to go to Lost Abbey tomorrow..
October 22, 2008 at 6:42 pm
[...] But then the hops hit you. Glorious Willamette. Coffee on the front end, hops on the back end, and the dark malts lurking in between, popping out here and there. The hoppy aftertaste sucks you in, bringing you back for more and more and more. For anyone who likes coffee and hops, this is ridiculously drinkable. And you have no business ordering this if you don’t like coffee. And if you’re a hop head, well then all is right in the world. —9 Numbers: Good People Brewing Coffee Oatmeal Stout [...]
November 10, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Danner,
First off, thanks for keeping up with this Coffee Oatmeal Stout saga on your blog. The timing could not have been better for me as I was planning a very similar brew for AHA’s Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day (11/1) and was desperately searching for some good advice on using coffee effectively in brewing. I was especially pleased to read that in your opinion, the Willamette hops blended with the coffee the best out of the different hops you tested, as I had about 8 ounces of leaf Willamette left from a large order I placed this summer that I really wanted to use.
It sounds like it was a huge success and I hope mine turns out half as good as yours sounds! We ended up brewing 10 gallons with two different types of yeast, visit http://beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=8260 if you’re interested in checking out the recipe (I even gave a shout out to this blog for the awesome advice). It’s pretty much done fermenting now so I’m going to transfer to secondary for a few weeks and then keg/add the coffee.
Which leads me to the million dollar question – how long did you end up soaking the coffee grounds in the secondary?? I know you mentioned in a prior post you thought a few hours would be sufficient and you would use 1 lb. to 5 gallons. Is that what you ended up doing? I am planning to follow your lead and add the coffee in a mesh bag right after I keg since I wouldn’t be able to put the coffee in the secondary.
That is great that a local brewer made your recipe and is considering it as a regular seasonal. What an awesome feeling that must be!
Thanks again, my anticipation for this brew is off the charts now! It should be ready just in time for the holidays.
November 11, 2008 at 8:27 am
I put 1 pound of coarsely ground coffee in a nylon grain bag and put it into my bottling bucket with the full 5 gallons of beer. I tasted it once an hour and decided to pull the coffee out after 3 hours.
Having consumed many of these now, I must say I think I overshot the coffee a bit. It’s intense. But I have friends who love it and think it’s better than the Good People version.
I recommend you time the coffee to taste, but I strongly suggest you do not exceed 1 pound per 5 gallons for 3 hours.
Also note that higher concentrations of alcohol in your beer will suck out more flavor from the coffee faster. Mine was around 5.5% ABV.
Glad someone found my record useful!
November 17, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Danner,
I happen to be in Birmingham on business this week staying at the DoubleTree downtown and I walked up the hill to 5 Points Grill, not realizing that Good People is right next door/upstairs (?)….so I was thrilled when the bartender rattled off 3 Good People brews when I asked her what they had on tap. Of course I got the oatmeal stout and it is awesome….the aroma is incredible! I still haven’t racked mine to secondary or added the coffee yet, but I was ecstatic that I was able to bring everything full circle and try out the commercial version of your brew. I also read the brewing newsletter they had in there and saw a couple of quotes from you on organizing the Free the Hops festival…that’s awesome. Anyway, not sure where in B’ham you live, but I’d love to meet up for a brew while I’m down this way. I’m here through Thursday this week and back for two weeks in December. Let me know if you’re interested.