Beer of the Weekend #613: Fallin' Oats Oatmeal Amber

The beer of the weekend is a curious brew I picked up in the Badger State yesterday: Fallin’ Oats Oatmeal Amber, brewed by the Hopothesis Beer Company of Monroe, Wisconsin.


Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. A cryptic code is printed on the shoulder but there is no discernable freshness date.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy, ruddy amber into a pint glass. One finger of tight, light tan, buttery head dissipates slowly, leaving an even skim and ring around the edge.

Smell: Very candy-like, sweet, fruity, and enticing. Lots of candy caramel, toffee, and some toasted malts. There is also a lot of cherry licorice, apple, and brown sugar.

Taste: It starts off well, but then it turns weird. A delicious blend of candy caramel, cherry licorice, apple, toffee, and brown sugar are prominent at first. But then they fade and an inappropriate bitterness takes over. Eww. It’s awful. The other flavors try to hang around, and are noticeable at moments, but the beer essentially becomes offensive mid-sip. It fades as the beer warms, allowing it to redeem itself, but the offensive flavor lingers.

Drinkability: Hmm… It starts off very well, very tasty. The smell is awesome. But the unpleasing bitterness that emerges and overpowers all the other flavors is definitely not cool. I think this beer has been around a while (see below), so that may be the issue. Will I be able to drink the other five beers in the sixer? We shall see. But this is a very weird beer. I need to give it props for the aroma and half of the flavor.

Fun facts about FOOA:

-Style: Hopothesis calls it “Oatmeal Amber.”

-Price: $8.49/sixer at the Roelli Cheese Haus on State Highway 11 in Shullsburg, Wisconsin.

-Alcohol content: 5.5 percent ABV.

-“Coming this May” is written on the beer’s webpage. Not good. Perhaps the sixer had been sitting around Roelli’s that long.


The Quiet Man’s grade: C-.

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