Today I had McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout from Belfast Bay. I wrote up a nice full review on Beer Advocate (click on the first link in this post), so you can read it there. But here’s a shortened version.
The beer poured a nice thick black color with a nice dark tan head. However, the head was huge (like half the glass) and the beer wasn’t too warm, nor did I pour it too hard. There were nice roasted malt scents and some slight burnt coffee aromas coming from it. Very nice. The beauty is in the taste. I had to read a review to figure out what I was tasting (or at least what one of the tastes was). Roasted malts dominated the taste, but some coffee and chocolate notes were present. The taste I couldn’t figure out was toffee. That was present for the first half and replaced by the chocolate in the second half. It felt a bit thinner than it looked and was a little overly carbonated. Other than the negatives, which were easy to overlook, the beer is awesome. I recommend this if you’re a fan of stouts and you can find it.
I would have to agree with you on every aspect of your review with the exception of the “huge head.” It could be that I enjoyed my McGovern out of a tap rather than a bottle but I had no problem pouring a perfect pint. Other than that you nailed it. Great rich flavorful taste… overall great beer. Nice job on the review, cheers.
I don’t know what it was about the bottle, but even with a proper pour (and I don’t think I could have poured any slower), it just foamed right up. It wasn’t even too warm. Aside from that, the beer was awesome.