River Horse Oatmeal Milk Stout

Greatness in the form of fermented malt does indeed exist deep within the sweat glands of the armpit of America. I'm talking about my great home state of New Jersey, of course - the beautiful Garden State; or as you out-of-staters may know it, the punchline to every one of your lame jokes.

New Jersey isn't typically known as a craft beer haven. I've written about the beer culture in New Jersey, or lack thereof, but I am a huge proponent of promoting the best of what this misunderstood state has to offer. This Oatmeal Milk Stout is one of the superior recent releases from the mid-Atlantic.

No matter where you call home, this is a classic sweet and roasty representation of the style - and great beer knows no boundaries nor discrimination. River Horse Brewing is located in Lambertville, right beside the Pennsylvania / New Jersey border - so close, in fact, that if their beer was awful, I would just as easily credit our neighbors with the flop (in the classic NJ style of passing blame); but having recently fallen in love with some of the brewer's offerings, I am proud to call this our own.

A Briefing on Style

This River Horse brew represents yet another version of our friend, the stout. In the Ølfabrikken review we learned that stouts were originally the strongest of the brewery's beers.

Today, we know that stouts (as with any other style of beer) can be found at varying alcohol percentages, but what we should expect of the stout is a dark, full-bodied brew with a moderate to heavy roasted malt character.

Exploring the numerous variations on the stout style is where the fun comes in: Irish dry stouts, milk stouts, sweet stouts, oatmeal stouts, coffee stouts, chocolate stouts, and even oyster stouts (I have yet to find one of these) live in the family. Wikipedia has a fine breakdown of the different types, and, for our interests, a brief description of the milk stout

Milk stout (also called sweet stout or cream stout) is a stout containing lactose, a sugar derived from milk. Because lactose is unfermentable by beer yeast, it adds sweetness, body, and calories to the finished beer. Milk stout was claimed to be nutritious, and was given to nursing mothers...

The classic surviving example of milk stout is Mackeson Stout for which the original brewers claimed that "each pint contains the energising carbohydrates of 10 ounces of pure dairy milk". In the period just after the Second World War when rationing was in place, the British government required brewers to remove the word "milk" from labels and adverts, and any imagery associated with milk.

Beer Advocate offers a similar description of the style, but implies that sweet stouts don't necessarily employ the use of lactose - I would lean toward the conservative side of differentiating the styles as well. I have personally found that some milk stouts will leave a sweet aftertaste, unmistakably (if only for a split second) reminiscent of milk or chocolate/malted milk. In the case of malted milk, since we're essentially dealing with some of the same basic ingredients, this isn't surprising.

The important takeaway, however, is the fact that the lactose is unfermentable - the brewer adds the sugar as a sweetening agent, and not for the production of alcohol. The second major component of this River Horse beer is the use of oatmeal. The above mentioned Wikipedia article goes into some depth about the use of oatmeal in brewing. Oats used in great amounts during the brewing process will typically add considerable bitterness ("so much so that in 1513 Tudor sailors refused to drink oat beer offered to them because of the bitter flavour"). For this reason, their use (which was popular prior to the sixteenth century) declined historically - basically until production no longer existed - until a resurgence in the late 1970's.

With Michael Jackson's writings of the style, and a sparked interest in a revival, Merchant du Vin commissioned British brewer Samuel Smith to make an oatmeal stout. Many consider the Sam Smith version to be the pure, basic representation of the style. While without this recent revival we may not have had such inventive interpretations from other brewers, I tend to prefer other, more bold and flavorful oatmeal stouts. I will say, however, if you're wondering what oatmeal adds or imparts to a beer, try the Sam Smith. By doing so, you may find it easier to identify the dry, bitter, slick and creamy mouthfeel components common of these brews.

Experience

The Oatmeal Milk Stout was another purchase from Oak Tree Buy Rite in South Plainfield - my home away from home. The salesperson recommended the beer, saying it was his favorite from the brewer. He also mentioned that although the beer was brewed as a specialty release, the brewer had mentioned we may see it return as a seasonal, due to popular demand. I had already tried (and loved) their Tripel Horse, and was looking forward to something new, so I picked up two single 12 oz bottles.

My wife and I enjoyed the beer immensely, so the next time I saw it at the store I picked up a six pack. The below is a recent re-sampling of the brew:

The stout pours like Coke syrup, brown like molten plastic; sticky-looking. Opaque and almost black, smells of dark chocolate malt. Sips like mocha espresso, bitter and sweet, full on the tongue like a rich, foamy root beer float. Intense roasted malt in a medium body - makes it well more drinkable than an imperial or even a typical oatmeal stout. The finish fades a bit quicker than desired but the faint roastiness resides on the back of the palate. I immediately want to go back for each sip, and am able to pull more flavor nuances with each taste.

Final Thoughts

Never underestimate the good things that can come out of this small state. Although the beer culture is still evolving here - and there may not be the enthusiast market for the plethora of selections available elsewhere - this brewery has certainly left its mark. I have sampled a few Milk/Cream Stouts - St. Peters, Left Hand, and Lancaster to name a few, and I enjoy this one from River Horse as much or more than the others.

Some beers are meant for a special occasion, or are so rich they're seen as a 'one-and-done' but this brew is easy on the palate and light enough in the belly to become a regular in the rotation. I have no reservations about recommending this to dark beer fans. Maybe a few of the Jersey-haters will even stay quiet long enough to plug their gullets with one of these. Enjoy.

America (New Jersey) - 6.7% ABV

River Horse Brewing [website]

Oatmeal Milk Stout