This usually seasonal derivative of sweet stouts counts on oatmeal for its full body and flavor rather than the base style’s lactose. Oatmeal lightly touches the mildly roasty, coffee-tinged aroma and lends a complex nutty, grainy layer to the flavor that when combined with dark, roasted grains reveals a cappuccino or chocolate milk essence. The oats' biggest contributions to the stout, however, is a sweetness that places the style squarely between sweet stouts and dry stouts in terms of sugar, and a mouthfeel that ranges from silky to nearly oily. A medium hop bitterness helps to balance all that malt, but these dark, roasty brews remain on the malty side of the spectrum.
Pair: Oatmeal stouts’ unique sweetness both complements and tempers spicy-sweet dishes like carnitas tacos and barbecue wings. Even better, they pair perfectly with breakfast: doughnuts, cereal and, of course, oatmeal.