Session # 141 | Ninkasi | Oatis | 7.2% ABV
Oatmeal Stout | Eugene, Oregon | Rating: 89/100
One year ago: Tröegs Nugget Nectar
It’s no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with Oregon beer. If I could move to Portland tomorrow you can bet your sweet ass I’d do it. Since I can’t I’ll have to enjoy my time there one bottle at a time. Though not in Portland specifically, Ninkasi Brewing is a pretty well-respected brewery from nearby Eugene. This beer, called Oatis, is their flagship beer and is an Oatmeal Stout. As I’ve said before, this style is one of my favorites due to the soft and velvety mouthfeel they tend to have. The oats just do something magical for the texture. Oatis presented itself exactly like it should, very dark with highlights of ruby red light coming through. The head was amazing with its roasted hazelnut color and nice consistency in the bubble sizes. On the nose, the oats hits you first and then follows that up with a nice amount of chocolate malt. Underneath you get a touch of coffee and dark fruits, though you really have to dig to find them. The flavor was quite similar to the aroma with the oats and chocolate being the clear winner. It was then followed by some coffee bitterness and dark malts. While this beer was textbook in a lot of ways for the style, it didn’t have that 90+ wow factor that I was looking for. I can tell you it came pretty damn close, though.
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This beer can be found in these states.
Listening To: Radiohead “Let Down”
Let us know your thoughts by rating and commenting on this video.
Posted by Chuck on February 9, 2011 at 11:53 AM
I had this one at the brewery on a visit to Oregon. I liked it quite a bit. I’m not sure Ninkasi would call it their “flagship” beer; I think they sell a lot more Total Domination IPA. Oatis goes down pretty smooth. Thanks for your review.
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 12:40 PM
I’ll have to go back and find where I read that, but I remember the brewery stating the Oatis was their flagship beer. Could have been an old page, too. Who knows? Question for when you had it? Was it on nitro? I ask because Oatmeal Stouts on nitro are so damn good and I bet it would really send this one over the edge.
Posted by Louie on February 9, 2011 at 12:02 PM
Big fan of Oatis – although I think Velvet Merlin gives it a run for its money. I should do them side-by-side and see which one is really better. Yet another great review, Mark.
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 12:36 PM
Thank you Louie. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the two in a side-by-side.
Posted by KevSal on February 9, 2011 at 8:41 PM
aha see it’s already been talked about, yes I agree velvet Merlin is great, my favorite oatmeal stout.
Posted by Chuck on February 9, 2011 at 2:28 PM
I believe it was on a regular tap, not nitro. As for when, I think it was the summer of 2009. And don’t take my nitpicking too seriously. Oatis is clearly one of Ninkasi’s flagship beers. But I read this on the Beeronomics blog:
“Ninkasi has to spend something like 60% of their time brewing only Total Domination IPA – they need to grow fast and so they need to flog their big three beers.”
http://beeronomics.blogspot.com/
Posted by thehopry on February 9, 2011 at 2:38 PM
Oh I’m not – it’s all good. Just curious to know now where I read it because it’s no longer on their site. Oh well…may just be my mistake. As for the Total Domination – I haven’t had that one. Looking forward to trying the Tricerihops, too.
Posted by KevSal on February 9, 2011 at 8:40 PM
have you tried firestone walker velvet Merlin? that guy is delicious, if you like this guy youll like that one.
Posted by thehopry on February 10, 2011 at 9:58 AM
Yep, Tim did a short of this one a while back. We liked it but didn’t love it. And I much prefer the Oatis personally…
Posted by Jeff on February 10, 2011 at 2:11 PM
I’ve only had their believer double red but my my was that a nice beer. Still stands out from a trip to Portland a fw years back.
Posted by thehopry on February 10, 2011 at 2:19 PM
I’d love to try that one. I read about it and it sounded great. I need to dig into red ales more as I have had very few…
Posted by don on February 11, 2011 at 4:17 PM
I’m not sure if you meant to associate lactose with the style of oatmeal stout, but I think that is not quite right. Generally lactose is used to make milk stouts, but isn’t necessarily a part of oatmeal stouts. You might have mentioned it in an episode I did not watch, but is there a reason you are not allowing comments on YT? I only watch your videos there as it puts all my subscriptions in one handy place. It’s easy to see what videos I need to watch. cheers.
Posted by thehopry on February 11, 2011 at 7:07 PM
Hey Don –
I went back and rewatched the review and clearly call out the difference in milk and oatmeal stouts. Both have a softer character to me than Imperial Stouts or Porters. Oatmeal Stouts are softer because of the oats and Milk Stouts are softer because of the lactose sugar.
As for comments on YouTube, I have disabled them because I rarely spend time on YT anymore – now that I use Vimeo for my site. So I end up missing a lot of comments and want to be able to respond to them (if needed) here where I get a bulk of my comments anyway.
Again, for me YouTube is just a place to house videos, but not where I ultimately want people to enjoy my content. But if that’s where people choose to watch then that’s okay, too. However, I put my work into this site and (again) feel like it’s the best experience in the end.
Posted by Daniel on February 11, 2011 at 6:05 PM
This is definitely my wifes favorite oatmeal stout. She’s a wine connoisseur and her favorite dark beer is Jubel 2010, have you had a chance to try that one yet? Its a Deschutes brew…+1 for Oregon beer!
Keep up the great reviews.
Posted by thehopry on February 11, 2011 at 7:08 PM
I have had the Jubel and it was very good. I have one extra that I’ll try to get on the show at some point. Also, more to come on Oregon beers for sure so stay tuned…
Posted by Aaron on August 15, 2011 at 8:09 PM
I think oatmeal stouts are really a great gateway beer for people looking to break into the craft beer scene. I find these stouts more approachable because they are a little more tamed down and tend to be more creamy. Ninkasi is great up here and there Total Domination IPA sells like crazy. It was the top-selling 22 oz beer in the state of Oregon and 10th in the nation, with distribution in just four other states. (Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho in 2010. I myself love Oregon beer and feel very fortunate to live only 20 minutes north of Portland. Great review…….cheers!