Nils Oscar Imperial Stout
Appearance: With a really cool little label and bottle, Oscar pours as black as midnight on a moonless night. There is no way you're going to be able to look through this one. Surprisingly, too, there is virtually zero head to be found here. With such a moderate alcohol presence, you'd think there would be at least something foamy on top. What little does appear goes away almost instantly. Smell: This beer is about as chocolaty as any stout I've ever smelled. As you stick your nose in the glass for the first time, the wafting of the aromas almost makes you pull your head back - this is an intense smelling stout that's for sure. In addition to the chocolate aroma there is also a robust amount of roasted coffee beans. I'd like to say the coffee bean smell is pleasing, but in all reality it smells like cheaply made coffee. Taste: The first thing I notice in the taste of Oscar is how unbelievably tart and watery it is. This is very unpleasing for a beer that should have a lot of depth. The nose is one that would lead you to believe this is going to be a very flavorable beer, but the taste just doesn't live up. The chocolate component is definitely there but the coffee taste is just overwhelming (and to be honest) quite horrible. Mouthfeel: It has all the flavor characteristics of a stout, but the mouthfeel it produces is probably the most puzzling element of the experience. It's all over the place. I'm actually amazed that a beer with this much aroma could fall so flat on the palate. Did I mention how watered down this beer is? Wow... Overall: I can assure you that I will never seek out another bottle of this beer. I found very little about it to be pleasing. I can tell you the one good thing it has going for it is that it's in a small 11.2 oz. bottle. If it were any bigger I might have found myself wanting to dump it out. Proof again that you can't always judge a book by its cover. I certainly did that with this beer.