Stoudt’s Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout doesn’t fit any one particular style of stout. It is American made in the British style, imperial, and made with oatmeal as well, so I’ll call it a specialty stout.

At 9% alcohol, it is like having two Guinness’s and starting a third, but there are certainly imperial beers which have even much higher alcohol content. When you first sip this Fat Dog, though, that is the first thing you taste; that warming feel of strong alcohol like you get drinking scotch. And, personally, I’m not a big fan of it. Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout is 10% abv and you can’t taste it at all.

The aroma and finishing bitter tastes is of coffee like notes that linger, something I love. All beers have an appropriate setting, and Fat Dog to me is a sipping beer. Something you might have as a night cap, not along side spicy food as the brewer’s suggest.

Fat Dog is a stout, no doubt about it, but I also found the lack of head retention disappointing. Another let down was the oatmeal aspect as I didn’t find that much of a smooth creaminess that oatmeal in the grist should offer.

It’s a good beer and definitely finely crafted, but my personal liking of it lands it a 3 on the unofficial Hop-Talk rating.

Update: I had bought a six-pack of this brew and wrote up my review right away. However, over the next few days I continued to sample the Fat Dog and it started to grow on me. I stand by my initial assessment, but drinking this beer in the right situation and with the right food may make all the difference in the world.