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Beer Reviews

Brass Knuckles

Barley Island Brewing
Noblesville, IN
USA
http://barleyisland.tripod.com/

Style: Stout
ABV: 4.9%

Eddie’s Rating:
   (Recommended)


Comments:
Ah, oatmeal. Is there nothing it can’t do? Not only does it feed me three, sometimes four times a day, but when added to the mash, it has a plethora of extraordinarily pleasing effects. Besides adding color to otherwise bland-looking, all-malt brews, flavor-wise it imparts earthy, roasted chocolate-like notes and even some nutty undertones. Maybe best of all, the fatty lipids in oats release oils during the brewing process, leading to a silky, thick, creamy head.

So why in the Hell wouldn’t you add oats to a stout? Germans and their goddamn laws, that’s why. Oats are considered an adjunct and therefore verboten under the Reinheitsgebot.

Well, their loss is American crafter brewers’ gain. And one of those brewers capitalizing on this German “do as we say”-ism is Barley Island, in Noblesville, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis. I picked up a sixer of their Brass Knuckles Oatmeal Stout at the local beer shop and went to work.

Slides out of the bottle like liquid onyx—thick and inky black, just like a real stout should. The head is all tan and bubbly silk, perfect in thickness and consistency; the oats really hold that bad boy together, all the way to the end. For an oater, the body is surprisingly dry, which overshadows an otherwise nice, firm body. There’s some chocolate notes smack dab in the middle, along with a roasted, nutty malt palate, and I swear I can taste something along the lines of oatmeal cookies somewhere in the back there.

Not as malty and warming as I prefer my stouts, but a solid, no frills entry from Barley Island. Recommended if you’re in a dark, silky mood.

Reviewed by Eddie Glick on December 14, 2007.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

Beer Dorks News

Want to know how healthy the craft beer industry is? As always, look to Portland. Craft pioneer Bridgeport announces sudden closure, adding to a growing list of PDX casualties. Did Anheuser-Busch Chicago offer their shit beer to Cody Parkey before his missed field goal? Because that may explain why he "accidentally" biffed it. Chicago now has the most breweries of any city in the country. Other things Chicago has the most of: murders, mobsters, and Ditkas. Trying to spin it positive, BA releases end of year graphic. Only 5% growth in the craft sector when nearly 1000 new breweries opened? That's a collapse waiting to happen. R.I.P. Tallgrass... another casualty as the regional/national craft beer market continues to get squeezed. Wait... Constellation Brands cut all of the Ballast Point and Funky Buddha sales staff? They merged it with their Corona/Modelo staff?? We're SHOCKED!!! Pizza Beer founder crying about failure of company, blames everyone else. Reminder, the beer tasted like vomit. Try having better ideas or making better products so you're not a failure. It's Bud Light so doesn't really matter, but we expect this beer to be sitting around for awhile. Indiana brewery to open with controversial beer names to "get the conversation going". Translation: taking advantage of serious issues for free publicity. Hundreds of amazing beers in Wisconsin and the Cubs took back the one everyone drinks just because it exists and people have heard of it. How fitting...