Serve in a nonic pint at 8-12 °C
What it tastes like
Oats in beer go back centuries in Britain, and oatmeal stout as a named style appeared in the late nineteenth century, partly because oats sounded wholesome to drinkers. It faded in the twentieth century and was revived in the 1980s, after which it became a staple for craft brewers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The oats rarely give a strong flavour of their own. What they give is texture. Their proteins and beta glucans make the beer smooth, round and almost creamy, so the roast tastes softer than in a dry stout of the same strength. You get milky coffee, cocoa, a little nuttiness and a hint of grainy sweetness, with moderate bitterness to keep it honest.
It sits between dry stout and milk stout: fuller and softer than the first, less sweet than the second. Strength is usually 4 to 6 percent, which makes it an easy dark beer to drink more than one of.
Style profile
- Look
- Dark brown to black, often with ruby or garnet highlights at the edge. Thick, creamy tan head that lasts.
- Aroma and flavour
- Milky coffee, cocoa and light roast, with a nutty, grainy note from the oats. Mild earthy English hops. Gentle sweetness, never cloying.
- Mouthfeel
- Medium to full body with a smooth, silky texture. Moderate to low carbonation and a soft, rounded finish.
- Ingredients
- Pale ale malt with roasted barley, chocolate and crystal malts, and 5 to 20 percent flaked or malted oats. English hops such as Fuggle or East Kent Goldings. English ale yeast.
In India
Oatmeal stout is one of the most common dark beers on Indian brewpub menus, and with good reason: it is moderate in strength and smooth enough to win over drinkers who find dark beer harsh. It travels better than hoppy styles because roast and texture hold up in heat. Drink it on a monsoon evening or with a long winter dinner, at cellar temperature rather than ice cold, or the oats lose their silkiness.
At the Indian table
Food pairings contributed by Anuradha Rao
- Dal makhani with butter naanThe silky body matches the slow cooked dal, and the roast gives a smoky lift to the cream and butter.
- Kerala beef fryCoconut slivers, curry leaves and black pepper meet the nutty oats and coffee roast.
- Kolkata chicken cutletThe beer's roast and soft carbonation cut through the crumb and mustard kasundi.
- Gulab jamunThe dark, caramelised syrup echoes the roast, and the stout's dryness balances the sugar.
Brewed in India
Want the long read? Milk stout and oatmeal stout