Oatmeal Stout, Breckenridge Brewery, Denver

Style: Oatmeal stout

ABV: 4.95 percent

Serving Type: 12-ounce bottle

Malty? Hoppy? Malty, but dry rather than sweet

Reviewed: March 2013

Cozy up to a bowl of oatmeal first thing in the morning, and it’s unlikely that you’ll give beer a passing thought. And yet, oats can complement a batch of dark brew quite nicely. Popular early in the 20th century, oatmeal stouts faded from the beer world by the 1960s and 1970s. The Samuel Smith Brewery in England popularized the beer style again in the 1980s when it started brewing its Oatmeal Stout. (This tasty brew is commonly found on the shelves of just about any liquor store.) Despite the relative popularity of this beer style today, Colorado breweries don’t regularly dedicate a six-pack to the variety. Cheers to Breckenridge Brewery for doing just that. Their oatmeal stout is dry, but also has a bit of semi-sweet chocolate flavor to it—a balance that will please dark brew fans.

Would we buy it again? We picked up a sixer for a recent weekend snowstorm.

Follow assistant editor Chris Outcalt on twitter at @chrisoutcalt.