Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout is part of the Monster Beer Tour from Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, Georgia. The ‘W-n-B’ on the label stands for “Wake ‘N’ Bake”, the beer’s former name. Terrapin starts with an oatmeal imperial stout recipe and then cold steeps a blend of coffees from Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Zimbabwe. The blend was concocted with Terrapin and Jittery Joe’s Coffee, also in Athens, Georgia, and the blend is available for purchase from Terrapin’s website here.
Beer Facts
Name: Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout
Style: American Double/Imperial Stout
Brewery: Terrapin Beer Company
Released: Seasonal
Availability: 12oz. bottles and draft
Description:
Black as night, this coffee stout is thick, rich and full of real coffee flavor. Brewed with the Terrapin Wake-n-Bake coffee blend created by Terrapin & Jittery Joe’s Coffee.
Hops: Chinook, Northern Brewer
Malts: 2-Row Pale Malt, Flaked Oats, Flaked Barley, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt & Roasted Barley
OG: 20.8
FG: ?
IBUs: 50
ABV: 8.6%
Tasting
Serving: 12oz. glass into a Terrapin pint glass.
Appearance: Rough pour creates a small, mocha-colored head that dissapears quickly leaving light lacing. The beer itself is jet black.
Aroma: I can smell coffee as soon as I pop the cap even before pouring. Has a rich, fresh ground coffee smell.
Mouthfeel: Slick mouthfeel with medium body. Right amount of carbonation… low.
Taste: Up-front coffee with sweet oats in background. Good balance of bitterness. Flavor doesn’t linger after sips and isn’t sticky like some imperial stouts. Alcohol is hidden very well.
Conclusion
This is an awesome beer. The coffee flavors are very complex and the strong oatmeal and roasted malts match really well. It’s a strong beer but doesn’t taste strong. In fact, there’s no noticeable alcohol flavor. Initially very cold, allowing it to warm up a bit let the flavors come out more but it’s not drastically different as you might expect. As strong in flavor and alcohol as this is, it’s really easy drinking.
The Brewing Network interviewed Terrapin headbrewer, Brian “Spike” Buckowksi, on May 18th, 2008 and discussed this beer specifically. On the show Spike shares some history of Terrapin, his beers, and goes into some detail about the Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout. Specifically, Spike explains how we came up with the coffee blend and his technique for brewing with it. The Brewing Network attempted to clone this beer on their December 5th, 2010 episode of Can You Brew It. The shows are available here and here and in the iTunes podcast directory.
Food pairings: Dessert or on its own.
Cellar-able: Yes.
Comparable beers: Founders Breakfast Stout, Beer Geek Breakfast from Mikkeller, Bell’s Java Stout, Southern Tier Jahva.
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