Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout - Rogue Ales

Hojaminbag

Colorado

2.73/5  rDev -34.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Rogue Shakespeare Stout has an extremely dark-colored, opaque body. The head is large and brown, with big bubbles, good retention and good lacing.

The aroma is a little bit off-putting the coffee is bitter and not especially aromatic; at first it just smells a lot like soy sauce.

The flavor is an improvement on the aroma, but I still don't love it. The coffee tastes a little bit more like coffee, but not like any kind of coffee I would want to drink; the flavor is dominated by an acrid bitterness, and not a pleasant bitterness that would come from hops. The coffee flavor is bringing the bitterness. Besides that, there are roasted malts and a little bit of chocolate malts and bright, hops in the finish.

The mouthfeel is solid, with a big creamy feel to it.

I can't say I'm a fan of Shakespeare Stout. I doubt I'll be trying this one again.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2010 13:11:35 | More by Hojaminbag

BierDrinker

Nova Scotia (Canada)

2.71/5  rDev -35.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pretty much an opaque black colour with a tan head the hangs around for awhile with a small amount of lacing.

A confusing aroma. Sweet, floral but a metallic smell to it.

Medium strong flavour on the bitter side. Notes of toast, coffee and herbal.

Medium body with a lively amount of carbonation. I found it a bit astringent and again, metallic feeling. Like the sensation from licking stainless steel if that makes sense?

A longer than average bitter finish but not intense.

As far as stouts go, this one is a little too light and bitter for my tastes. The subtle metallic smell and taste kind of threw me off. I'm new at paying attention to what I taste, so I could be mistaking that sensation for something else.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 01:37:01 | More by BierDrinker

Indybeer

Indiana

2.63/5  rDev -37.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

22 oz bomber. Poured a pure black with a massive chocloate head that slowly receded. Lots of lacing on the glass. Now here is where things go south for me on this. The aroma was all hops, I could barely detect anything else. he same with the taste. It reminded me more of drinking an IPA instead of a stout. Did I get a very young bottle that wasn't ready? I find it hard to rate this, not being like any other stout i've had. It's not bad but not what was expected.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2003 05:41:54 | More by Indybeer

chilly460

Virginia

2.63/5  rDev -37.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - Pours an inky black with chocolate brown head, very nice looking beer.

S - I pick up mostly a malty scent, with some chocolate tones. Not the big aroma I expected.

T - Burnt coffee dominates, overly astringent. Never get to the "roastiness" that I expected.

M - Quite thin for the style.

D - Fair, but the bitter/astringent taste keep this to one beer.

I don't know if I got a bad bottle or just an off day as far as taste goes, but this beer did not match previous reviews. Will try again soon.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2009 23:58:28 | More by chilly460

jujubeast6000

Texas

2.53/5  rDev -39.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Reviewed 9/6/2006 (22oz bottle):

Pours a dark brown/black colored body, with a huge head, lasting, brown/light brown in color. Has a very stout-y aroma, coffee, but not much else. Has a coffee taste, and is rich. Somewhat watery. Okay, but not my thing.

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2009 03:48:05 | More by jujubeast6000

lurpy1

Minnesota

2.48/5  rDev -40.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

My wife picked this one. She fell in love with Hazelnut Brown Nectar and now swears unconditionally by all things Rogue. As for me, my recent Rogue beers while not terrible, have been disappointing, so it's against my better judgement that we go forward with this one.

After an attractive pour, this one falls off a cliff, with a imperceptible, musty, dog-in-a-swamp odor that wards off all normal beer smells. The taste hits all the right notes at first with grains and roasty malts, but it drowns in a sea of, uh, stank. There is a lot of unpleasant bitterness that makes finishing a pint a real chore. Mouthfeel isn't bad, but doesn't have the thick smoothness I expect in an Oatmeal Stout.

Dammitall, Rogues have gone from blah to outright bad on this one. This beer is borderline lousy. Hope I got a bad bottle. Last time I reviewed a Rogue beer I swear I was taking a Rogue hiatus. Apparently the hiatus ended, but that goes double this time.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2011 04:33:00 | More by lurpy1

apintofknowledge

New Jersey

2.38/5  rDev -43.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Being a big fan of stouts, I was so happy to pick up a bottle of what seemed to be one of the highest rated stouts on BA. To this point, my two favorite stouts are Brooklyn Black Chocolate and Mackesons. So I was hoping to add a new one to my list.

The beer poured a dark thick almost black color with a reddish head... looked very good and made me anxious to taste. Hardly any aroma though... seemed very strange. Now for the taste... burnt, bitter and hoppy. Burnt like the way Starbucks overroasts their coffee beans. Hoppy... I've never had a stout with so much hops presence... not very typical of the style in my opinion. Bitter... this lingering bitterness in my mouth that I typically get from those over-the-top IPAs.

Just not my cup of tea... or mug of stout...

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2005 01:51:29 | More by apintofknowledge

wmaldridge

Florida

2.38/5  rDev -43.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

I had this beer while visiting Yardhouse in Palm Beach.

First thing that I noticed about this beer is that it was poured from CO2 and not from nitro, which, to me, was a little different.

The beer had a really rich look to it. Very black with a very dark brown head. Very dark brown around the edges.

The smell was very different to me. It had the classic chocolate notes with malty overtones, but the blast was from the obvious use of Cascade Hops. Very different smell to my usual stouts.

The taste, to me, was a bit overbearly hoppy. Not my type of stout. Very different, but not for me.

I don't think that I would order this beer again, but any beer is worth a try.

Serving type: on-tap

02-22-2007 22:48:58 | More by wmaldridge

jtierney89

New Jersey

2.3/5  rDev -45.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This bottle has close to a years worth of age on it if not a years age. Pours a deep deep brown, basically black, but from what I can tell from the pour is relatively clear. Decent brown head which recedes pretty quickly. Dark fruit especially figs on the nose along with anisette and faint touches of chocolate. Gonna give it a moment to breathe. With a little time the malt comes across really nicely on the nose as chocolate chip cookie dough. Some other not so pleasant scents still arise however.

Chewy mouthfeel with a deep roasted character. A little watery on the finish with subdued bitterness. Classic rogue crispness. Flavors include chocolate, licorice, anisette, coffee, alcohol and touches of nail polish. More so all over the place then layered. Clean finish though. Hap hazard flavors and a flimsy body unable to pull them all together. Not sure if it's the age or just the pac man yeast that has ruined beer. At least it's different than most of rogues other offerings i've had.

Drinkable but I dont see what all the hypes about.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2012 03:44:08 | More by jtierney89

Ilacquin

Illinois

2.1/5  rDev -49.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

Poured a pitch black with a nice thick dark tan head. Head left little lacing, as I wasn't able to drink much of this brew.

Aroma was non-descript, a little malty and not very strong.

Not sure what went wrong with this- taste was potent and bitter. A little malt and hop character, but the "bite" was so overwhelming I couldn't gather much else. Not sure if this was a bad bottle (skunked?) or what, but the overall experience was foul. This was the first time I have ever poured a beer out without finishing it. I enjoy a lot of stouts, and this was NOT the flavor or bite I usually associate with a good stout.

I sincerely hope this was a bad bottle, but it will be quite a while before I spend $5 to try it again.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2004 19:40:38 | More by Ilacquin