Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout - Big Sky Brewing Company

guinness33

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a deep brown to black colour with a tan head that is fairly minimal in size but leaves a nice amount of sticky residue on the glass.

The aroma is a blend of roasted malt, some chocolate, some coffee and a bit of alcohol.

Flavour essentially echoes the aroma, but has a bit more bite to it. The alcohol presence is a bit bolder and there is much more of a roasty flavour at the end of each sip. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and quite smooth.

This was an easy drinking, simple oatmeal stout to me. If the aroma was beefed up a bit this would be a top notch oatmeal stout, and it's still quite nice as it stands.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2009 20:35:20 | More by guinness33

LXIXME

New Mexico

3.53/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Big light brown head slowly settles into a decent lacing above a clear burnt reddish brown colored beer.

Lightly sweet dark roasted caramel malts aroma overwhelms anything that may be trying to showcase itself.

Roasted caramel malts, light chocolate laden with a light sweetness compliments each other in the taste of this stout.

A lightly burnt and dry aftertaste that brings with it a bit of the malt tastes of this medium bodied beer.

Decent enough stuff, I do believe I could drink a few of these.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 17:02:16 | More by LXIXME

alex_hart

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +1.4%

04-20-2013 16:21:11 | More by alex_hart

WoodBrew

Illinois

3.63/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Trying the Slow Elk for the first time as a desert to a long Friday. The beer poured a black opaque with a thin ecru head that is leaving a spotty lace. The scent is has a nice espresso feel. The taste is a little watery coffee but it is decent. There is a nice sweet toffee after taste which makes one want to keep sipping away. The mouthfeel is lighter in body with smooth carbonation. Overall it's a smooth drinkable stout that is worth a taste.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 04:32:21 | More by WoodBrew

BGsWo22

New York

3/5  rDev -13%

03-03-2013 06:01:11 | More by BGsWo22

scot_chale

Minnesota

3.78/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A- dark brown body, thin white head with lots of bubbles in it, and carbonation apparent on the sides of the glass.

S- Oatmeal is present, with caramel malt sweetness. It's not potent, but if you dig in it's there.

T- It's fairly sweet, a little watery, but great flavor for duration. It doesn't overwhelm the senses and I like that.

M- sprity carbonation and dry. easy drinking with a nice flavor to back it up. not as full bodied as I look for in this style, but I like it's personality.

O- Not a bad beer. I like most of what the big sky brewery kicks out, and this is very unique. Oatmeal stouts usually put me to sleep with their heaviness, but this one keeps me awake and has me reaching for another. I'd hang out with this one once in a while. It's a session stout for me.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2013 05:20:22 | More by scot_chale

dsuedbeck

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +8.7%

02-10-2013 04:24:53 | More by dsuedbeck

leedorham

Washington

4/5  rDev +15.9%

01-29-2013 17:52:37 | More by leedorham

fivetime

Idaho

3.75/5  rDev +8.7%

01-22-2013 00:51:09 | More by fivetime

DeekNayvuz

Montana

3.75/5  rDev +8.7%

01-21-2013 02:43:39 | More by DeekNayvuz

PintOHops

California

3.45/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Glass - Nonic

A - Dark, black color with just about no light shinning through. The head came and went within a few seconds of pouring. No lacing really.

S - Sweet milk chocolate, coconut and a touch of almond is what I pick up. Slightest bit of herbal hop twang shines through a bit. Sweet and chocolaty smelling overall.

T - Very close to the aroma. It's sweet and chocolaty with a touch of bread or biscuit in there. Citrus and herbal hop twang comes in mid to finish and washes the palate a bit. Bitterness is low, and I also pick up a touch of coconut.

M - Crispness is moderate and cuts through the viscous medium-full body.

O - I think this is a solid Oatmeal Stout that I'd enjoy drinking again. Great price, nothing wowing about it but a good representation of the style i think. Worth a try. Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 02:05:25 | More by PintOHops

JosiahS

California

3.84/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

a: Dark brown body with what was a 1 finger tan head that quickly disappeared to a think ring.

s: Rich malt character on the nose. Lots of toast bread, chocolate and some licorice. Maybe a hint of of a general grain smell that may come from the oats.

t: The taste is chocolaty, fruity and with a slight floral flavor on the back-end.

m: body is perfect balance between a session-able beer and one with a thicker, more rich body. The oats contribute a subtle lush feel while the carbonation competes with it.

o: A pleasantly surprising brew that offers straightforward flavors and body but done very well.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 02:05:03 | More by JosiahS

SerialHiker

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Black as oil as promised…a dark khaki head that settles in about a finger width thickness…(4/5)

Smell: Strong chocolate notes blended with oatmeal and malt…chocolate is dominate throughout…really not overly eventful unless you like huffing coco essence…(3.25/5)

Taste: Coffee and chocolate flavors explode as soon as they hit my tongue…oatmeal malt and hops are the underbelly as expected…robust all around leaving very little room for bitterness…apparent it’s a higher alcohol content beer…(3.5/5)

Mouthfeel: Fluffs right up, creating a milk chocolate clouds that lingers…oatmeal and malt flavors consume back of my tongue…one drink lasts a while, but it’s hard to cover the alcohol taste…(4/5)

Overall: The flavor is fantastic, chocolate and coffee notes blend fantastically with the malt and hops…the carbonation makes a cotton candy like fluff that is very flavorful…I recognize that it’s an imperial stout, but the alcohol is a bit too dominant…it could be toned down a bit and that would create a more balanced, flavorful beer…(3.75/5)

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 04:35:24 | More by SerialHiker

cyrushire

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +8.7%

01-15-2013 04:31:41 | More by cyrushire

TasteTester

Ohio

3.25/5  rDev -5.8%

01-08-2013 05:24:01 | More by TasteTester

bluckbeyes

Oregon

4/5  rDev +15.9%

01-03-2013 21:27:15 | More by bluckbeyes

KingSlayer

Mexico

3.35/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

355ml bottle

A: pours jet black dense liquid, one finger beige foam, poor retention, no lacing.

S: faint nose composed of roasted malts and chocolate.

T: roasted malts (not intense), semi sweet, well balanced, chocolate hint, mild alcoholic presence, acid-dry retrotaste, residual retronasal coffee, lasting coffee bitterness.

M: creamy medium bodied, not silky, nice adequate carbonation.

O: light body for an oatmeal, nose is pleasant but faint and would like more complexity, the acid-dry taste i guess is from the oatmeal, would like more intense roasted malt flavors. it was worth trying this brew, but next time i might skip it to try a different one.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2012 06:12:47 | More by KingSlayer

I-Beir-the-Bel

3.5/5  rDev +1.4%

12-30-2012 04:19:11 | More by I-Beir-the-Bel

thinwhiteduke

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -5.8%

12-27-2012 02:32:35 | More by thinwhiteduke

BigBarley

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +8.7%

12-26-2012 16:18:17 | More by BigBarley

Jameswoody

Montana

4.5/5  rDev +30.4%

12-25-2012 03:15:52 | More by Jameswoody

Zymocenosilicaphobic

3.5/5  rDev +1.4%

12-22-2012 02:56:12 | More by Zymocenosilicaphobic

Bighorn

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -13%

12-18-2012 00:33:19 | More by Bighorn

StoutHunter

Michigan

3.13/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I picked up a bottle of Big Sky's Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout last week for $1.69 at The Lager Mill. I'm in the mood for a nice Oatmeal Stout tonight and since I've never had this one before I thought I would give it a try, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into an imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks ok, it looks like a cow with elk antlers. It poured a very dark brown color that was bordering on being black and it had a really slight ruby hue when held to the light with two fingers worth of fluffy medium tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and left some patchy lacing. This beer looks ok, but I wish the color was a little darker.

S- The aroma starts off with some pretty sweet roasted malts that impart a pretty chocolate syrup like aroma with just hint of black coffee to it. After that comes a medium oat like aroma followed by some molasses and vanilla bean. The aroma was ok, but it was a little on the sweet side with a little to much chocolate syrup.

T- The taste seems to be somewhat similar to the aroma and it starts off with a thin and watered down roasted malt flavor with chocolate and coffee still showing buy they are much lighter then they were in the aroma and the coffee seems to slightly stick out the most. After that comes a pretty grainy and oaty flavor that doesn't have enough roast to balance it out. On the finish there's a hardly any bitterness just a hit of sweetness instead and the aftertaste was very grainy and oaty with just a little bit of roast to it. This beer was pretty average tasting, there wasn't any off flavors but the flavors that were their weren't roasty and rich enough to be as true to style as it should be.

M- Pretty smooth, watery, slightly creamy, on the light side of being medium bodied, with a slightly higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel was average at best, it wasn't rich and thick enough for the style with a little too much carbonation.

Overall I wasn't impressed with this beer and I thought it was an average at best example of the style, the flavors were too thin and the body was too watery for the style, that's not what I'm looking for in a good Oatmeal Stout. This beer doesn't have the best drinkability, it went down smooth, but the flavors just couldn't hold my attention and the thin body was a turn off so one is more then enough for me. What I liked the most about this beer was the aroma and appearance, they weren't great, but they weren't bad and either and compared to the other aspects of this beer those were the highlights. What I liked the least about this beer was how muted the roasted malt flavors were and how thin and watery the mouthfeel was, they were a pretty big disappointment. I wouldn't buy this beer again, it's priced good, but the quality isn't up to my standards for the style and there's many more Oatmeal Stouts that I would much rather be drinking, I wouldn't recommend this beer to anyone, it's just not worth it. All in all I was let down with this beer, it just didn't deliver what a good Oatmeal Stout should and it left me wanting much more, better luck next time guys, this one turned out to be a miss.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2012 04:40:55 | More by StoutHunter

TastingRoomCharNtony

3.25/5  rDev -5.8%

12-01-2012 04:24:56 | More by TastingRoomCharNtony