I found this one at Kettlehouse Brewing Co. in Missoula last weekend. The Myrtle Street location, that is. On nitro. This is the first time in my craft brew drinking history that I’ve ever seen a brown ale on nitro. Stouts and porters, yes. Even found an Imperial IPA on nitro once, though I can’t remember where.  Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve ever tasted, or even heard of, a brown ale with oatmeal. But that is classic Kettlehouse. There are a lot of innovative brewers in Montana which makes it an excellent place to be a fan of craft brews.  Few push the envelope quite like Kettlehouse. 

This beer has classic brown ale elements – well balanced malt and hops with a slight nutty/earthy taste, little aroma, light to medium bodied, and an overall easy drinking session beer.  But this one adds in oatmeal for a slightly fuller mouthfeel and, combined with the nitro, creates a bit of a creaminess not found in your typical brown ale. Starts out with a typical nitro bubbling, clarifying to a dark brown with red highlights ( as usual with the camera on my blackberry, the picture is darker than the real thing). No notable hop aroma, but finishing with a bit of hop bitterness.  Well worth seeking out if you’re in Missoula, but you’d better get there soon.

Name: Disc Down Oatmeal Brown
Brewery: Kettlehouse Brewing Co., Missoula, MT.
Style: Oatmeal Brown Ale.
Color: Dark brown with red highlights.
Packaging: draft.
Stats: ?% abv, ? IBU.
Bought: Kettlehouse Brewing Co.
Ruling: Four out of Five Hops. Wonderfully innovative brown ale.