Highland Oatmeal Porter - Highland Brewing

rivalrome

Florida

3.23/5  rDev -17%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Comes highly recommended from my friend up in NC. Served in a CCB pint glass at 51ºF.

Pours a rich mahogany color with very little visible light able to make it through. Forms a small, creamy one finger head on the surface. Lacing isn't too prominent.

Smells very earthy and hints of roasted malts and fruits. Nothing special initially jumps out at me whenever I taste the beer; I was expecting it to be a lot more sweet.

Tastes similar to the smell, very earth and has an element of burnt coffee as well. It has a hoppy aftertaste; something that I wasn't expecting. I'm not getting much of an oatmeal flavor as I was hoping for. It feels a bit thin for a porter, and the mouthful tastes bubbly and carbonated with hints of bitterness.

Overall, slightly disappointed by this one given my friends' review. It's very atypical to any porters that I've had with "Oatmeal" attached to it, and it's highly carbonated, yet thin body is unappealing. It's taste isn't the worst; it just doesn't have the loving taste of a microbrew.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2011 02:22:11 | More by rivalrome

OakedCanuck

Washington

3.23/5  rDev -17%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12oz into shaker

This beer pours a dark brown with reddish edging against the light. Decent tan head that was not retained for very long. Slippery lacing. Roasted malt smell, faint herbal grassiness. Taste was pretty average for the style. You do pick up the graininess of the oatmeal but it isn't the star. Mixed in was a grassy hop presence and some bittersweet chocolate. Mouthfeel was thin and semi-dry. Overall this is an okay Porter. I would have liked to seen/tasted the oatmeal profile a little better.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2011 16:36:22 | More by OakedCanuck

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured into great lakes snifter.

Pours 1/2 finger of light tan head. Fades down. Leaves some splattered lace. Color pours a caramel brown, but settles near black.

Aroma: Notes of roasted malts and dark chocolate. Some nut flavors. I also get a bit of cream and lactose flavors.

Taste: Chocolate, vanilla, roasted malts, and lactose. I really can't taste the difference between this and a regular porter. Decent.

Mouthfeel: Roasted and creamy. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends a bit dry with coffee flavors.

Overall, a fairly average porter. Decent drinkability. I didn't really get the oatmeal part of this.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2010 23:27:31 | More by mothman

Indybeer

Indiana

3.15/5  rDev -19%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle. Poured deep brown with reddish tints when held up to the light, decent head that didn't stick around, and not much lacing on the glass. Aroma is roasted malt, and hops. Taste is more of the same, but I'm missing the creamy smoothness of oatmeal. This is more like a regular porter but with alot more bitterness from the roasted barley and hops. No bad but nothing special for me either

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2004 03:06:57 | More by Indybeer

mclanem

Massachusetts

3.15/5  rDev -19%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance: Nice dark amber color with a tan head.

Smell: Faint malt smell not to much of a smell.

Taste: Coffee, malt and coffee, the after taste was metallic which was what set this beer back to average.

Mouthfeel: I expected the oatmeal porter to be thicker. it has good carbonation.

Drinkablility: I was not fond of the flavor having such a metallic taste to it, but it was good everywhere else. so average.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2006 23:50:37 | More by mclanem

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev -19%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: The ale is dark brown, almost a black color, with a small white band of head.

S: The ale has a sweet oatmeal malty aroma that masks ans porterish chocolate notes.

T: The first sip of the beer was an intriguing tease. It provided a sweet oatmeal flavor with strong chocolate porter notes. The only problem is that that flavor does not re-appear in later sips. The flavors, after that first sip, are watered down and lacking in substance. The flavors that do emerge are clearly roasted, but the oatmeal and sour porter components are gone.

M: The mouthfeel suffers a steep decline after that first sip.

D: Close but no cigar to this beer, the flavors just don't come out enough.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2006 19:54:19 | More by akorsak

womencantsail

California

3.13/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: The pour is a dark brown with some dark red/ruby highlights and a thin off-white head.

S: Smells really charred and ashy. A slight acidity, but there is a nice creamy chocolate/cocoa aroma underneath it. Nice roasted malt and some coffee or maybe coffee grounds.

T: Quite bitter with a lot of acidity and plenty of ash and acrid coffee notes. Lots of roasted malt flavor, maybe a little bit of dark fruit notes. I don't really get much, if any chocolate or oatmeal out of this.

M: The body is on the thin side with a medium carbonation.

D: The lack of oatmeal character in this beer was quite disappointing. It really lacked the usual smooth and full mouthfeel that oatmeal provides.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2011 04:39:37 | More by womencantsail

tdm168

North Carolina

3.1/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

On tap at the the Village Draft House

Pours a deep, dark brown with a thin but dense lacing of cappuccino colored head. There's very little to offer in the nose except some faint roasted malts. The taste is predominantly roasted malts with notes of burnt toast. There might be something off here. I notice some yeast and a diacetyl-like creamy, butteryness. It's medium bodied though thin at times, smooth, and moderately carbonated.

Ignoring the diacetyl notes: This beer is rather one dimensional and a little thin. It's pleasing, overall. I'll try it again, and I'll probably be back to edit this review if the off flavors aren't there next time.

Serving type: on-tap

10-16-2011 11:27:10 | More by tdm168

klewis

Ohio

3.08/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Light for a porter, with reddish highlights. Moderate, frothy head with good lacing.

S: Nut much aroma, just a mild chocolate smell.

T: Roasted flavors with a touch of astringency. Quite thin in the taste department.

M: Light-bodied with light-moderate carbonation. Finishes clean and dry.

D: Decent, but lacking in any sort of unique character.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2009 21:43:40 | More by klewis

jrallen34

Illinois

3.08/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

I drank this from a 12oz bottle into a Rochefort chalice.

The beer pours a medium brown, lightly ruby highlights decently clear. This is pretty watery, not much retention or lacing.

The aroma is super light only gives off the slightest hint of coffee.

The taste is super boring and simple. It has some bitter 2 day old coffee taste that is super watery.

Boring, bad, light tasting. Blah.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2010 02:11:51 | More by jrallen34

babaracas

Florida

3.08/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured a mostly clear brown. Seemed light in color but is dark brown in the glass, with thin khaki colored head, spotty lace. Smell: herbal and leafy hopping, light roasted grain, tannins. Taste: solid herbal hopping with slight citric acidity, just a little chocolate syrup, oatmeal. Decent hopping, but not particularly interesting.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2011 05:35:56 | More by babaracas

shand

Florida

3.08/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a fresh 12oz bottle into a mug.

This one pours a deep brown with a tiny head that doesn't retain very well. The aroma is a bit hard to coax out, and when I do I get some oatmeal sweetness and some roasted malts. The taste on this is fairly interesting. I'm having this very fresh, and the hops are fairly prevalent, interacting with the sweet oatmeal and roasted malts in interesting ways. It never quite smooths out to a nice porter taste though, it just stays pretty jumbled. The mouthfeel is pretty light and highly carbonated, and the drinkability is alright. Overall, I think this one's a bit confused. Not the best beer, but still servicable.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2011 05:42:54 | More by shand

timericka

North Carolina

3.03/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured as a very rich black with decent beige/tan head. Smell was of unsweetened chocolate which was very nice not to much. Mouthfeel was middle of the road. Really kind of smooth for a porter. Flavors were more chocolate and almost a little smoke or roasted malt. I thought this was a pretty decent beer overall. Especially since it is from Asheville, NC.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2008 04:50:13 | More by timericka

smerkinb

North Carolina

3/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

This poured nearly black with a thin loose foam head that quickly dissipated. The smell was strong with alcohol with espresso. The taste was almost astringent followed by strong espresso bitterness to finish. There was a pretty lengthy aftertaste for me. The mouthfeel was slightly thick, but not smooth like I was expecting--instead it was strongly biting, almost like sharp pinpricks on my tongue.

Overall I was disappointed with this beer. I was expecting a smoother feel. I guess I should have paid a bit more attention to the "hoppy" wording on the label--to me they overwhelmed the beer.

Edit: I was uninformed enough to not expect the hoppiness in this style. It put me off, but appears to be true to style--I have adjusted my review to reflectmore accurately the this accepted in this style and less my own preference within the style

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2008 12:16:56 | More by smerkinb

GRG1313

California

3/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Black with off white thick head; quickly fades.

Nose is sweet black chocolate; hints of maple and sweet coffee.

Mouthfeel thin and watery without character.

Flavors are short, simple, unassertive and light of weak coffee and weak chocolate. Weak roasted grains. Potential but falls short. Not bad and actually pretty drinkable but very simple with a nice light weak bitter coffee finish.

Average in the extreme.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2010 06:43:22 | More by GRG1313

tewaris

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -22.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Dark brown, medium head, medium retention. Some lacing. Charred and acidic aroma with elements of dark fruit, mostly prunes. Tart and dark with some roast toward the end and a generally clean finish. Medium body, high carbonation. Drinkable and certainly not a bad beer. However, it will have a hard time standing out.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2012 07:53:56 | More by tewaris

Jredner

Florida

2.98/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Aroma was pretty low intesnity though I didn’t give it very long to warm I’d stille xpect more aroma than this. Faintly roasty with a bit of green tobacco. Deep black with a quickly fading mocha head. Fore is roasted malts and coffee..no real chocolate notes though I get hints of darker fruits. Palate is a bit thin and it rolls into the flavor which makes the finish slightly watery. Highland might be the one brewery that has beers I really like a lot that aren’t porters or stouts. I thinkt he Tasgall is very nice, but the Porter and Stout, to me, were lacking.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2006 16:09:55 | More by Jredner

AleWatcher

Illinois

2.98/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Reviewed from notes.
Served in Pint glass.

Another bottle courtesy of JohnQVegas. Thanks Dustin.

Pours a deep dark brown with reddish hints in the legs. Good 2 finger head with 2 finger head, decent retention and some lace left behind. Deep red in color as I look more and more...

Smells of roasted chocolate malts, caramel malts, and black malts. Nothing too mindblowing. No hop presence, but it is a porter!

The finish is kind of dry.

The body is unimpressive. I was hoping the oats would rocket this thing into amazing territory, but no dice. It feels flat and dull. Medium fullness.

I guess I could drink this... but why bother?

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2010 19:31:53 | More by AleWatcher

ZX6Chris

California

2.9/5  rDev -25.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

A-Blackish brown. Not alot of head on the pour but a swirl of the glass unleashes a good amount of tight white bubbles.

S-Milk chocolate, that metallic atom that I'm finding alot of beers having. Not alot going on but it's pretty nice.

T-a little milk chocolate and a mild amount of roast and bitterness on the finish. Maybe that burnt coffee flavor?

M-Feels medium bodied but watery at the same time. Seems flat.

D-Ok. Easy drinking mild beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2010 02:22:54 | More by ZX6Chris

DrinkinBoy

Georgia

2.88/5  rDev -26%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This Higland has a very dark brown appearance. It had a small tan head, with very little retention.

The smell was very strong, but nothing much else is noticeable but the alcohol.

The taste was strong and sweet.

Its mouthfeel was suprisingly light, but it does pack a big punch. It is also highly carbonated.

Highland Oatmeal Porter was a decent beer. I would recommend giving it a try.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2006 20:59:19 | More by DrinkinBoy

breakingbland

Michigan

2.88/5  rDev -26%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle. No date. 

Aroma: Not much aroma. Slight hops. Detected a slight odd aroma component but couldn't identify it; maybe it had a caramel character.

Appearance: Poured with a very nice brown sugar-colored head. The one-finger head dissipated rather quickly. The brew itself was a deep brown -- virtually opaque. 

Taste: Detected some malty sweetness. Medium hops.  The taste profile had some depth but overall not too interesting. 

Mouthfeel: The beer felt a bit thin in the mouth. It had a medium level of carbonation.  

Overall: This beer was "advertised" as very malty with hints of chocolate which I would have liked, but they were a bit too subtle for me in this beer. I wouldn't turn this beer down, but neither would I search it out again.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 17:00:24 | More by breakingbland

ybnorml

Rhode Island

2.85/5  rDev -26.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A very dark brown beer with rich mahogony highlights. Has a small creamy light brown head. There is a rich malty aroma with a light chocolate note a bit of coffee in the background. The flavor starts with a good promising roasted malt character. This robust goodness is short lived however. The finish is a nasty metallic aftertaste that sticks to your teeth and gums. Removing any joy you were getting from this brew.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2005 20:42:36 | More by ybnorml

CharlieMurphy

New York

2.85/5  rDev -26.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A: 1/3" cream head that laces out a bit. Translucent red amber tinted black-brown in color.

S: smells like a very mild porter that you would expect to be lighter in color than it is. Some smoke and coffee hints

T: Crisp mild coffee like flavors beckon through a light porter body with a dry stout like roast finish. I don't get any oatmeal unfortunately. Basically no sweetness either.

M: Thin, on point for carbonation, slightly too dry.

O: Everything could work together a lot better. This would be better if it were bigger beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2011 03:51:11 | More by CharlieMurphy

Soonami

Pennsylvania

2.8/5  rDev -28%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Highland Oatmeal Porter is okay. It's not bad, but it is not a beer I'd seek out again. I'm not sure why it's rated as highly as it is by the Bros, probably because they reviewed this beer ten years ago and the recipe and/or our expectations have changed since then.

I poured this beer into a Yard's tulip, fairly roughly, but managed only to stir up a couple centimeters of sand colored foam that quickly faded to just an irregular ring of tight foam. The beer is a clear dark brown with mahogany highlights on the edges. The beer smells smoothly roasty with notes of sweet malty grain. The beer tastes surprisingly watery for an American Porter with just a little bit of roast character, little body and not much caramel. It's a weird beer and definitely not what I expect from an oatmeal porter.

It's too light in color, too thin, not chocolately enough, undercarbonated, too dry. It just doesn't taste as full in flavor or body as I would have wanted. Not bad, but undeserving of this aggregate score.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2011 04:10:58 | More by Soonami

MTNboy

Germany

2.73/5  rDev -29.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance- I first noticed there was not a lot of head on this beer for a porter. It is pretty dark even for a porter. I know that sometimes there is a thin line between this style and a stout and I believe that they crossed it.

Smell- There is not much of a smell at all. Mainly of roasted malt but that is faint.

Taste- The flavor is somewhat chocolate and toffee flavored but not as rosted as one might think.

Mouthfeel- Full bodied and very smooth.

Drinkability- It was alright for a change but not a beer I would consider too much if there were other options.

Serving type: on-tap

01-04-2008 22:06:01 | More by MTNboy