Mendocino Brewing Company Oatmeal Stout

You would hope that a town called Hopland, California would produce some incredible beer. I tried (admittedly very quickly and superficially) to find some history on the production of hops in Hopland, but came up nearly empty-handed. Hops were grown in Hopland around 1910, but the town already had its name prior to that. Although the supremely hot summers are ideal for hop production, I don't believe there are any significant hop producers in California today.

Though it may no longer grow hops, Hopland is home to the Mendocino Brewing Company. The brewery's Eye of the Hawk and Red Tail Ales are extremely popular in northern California, but have never been very interesting to me. It kind of seems like the two brews fill the same market niche as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: they are enough like macro-brews to be accessible to a broad audience, but different and local enough to appeal to those trying to branch out beyond Budweiser and PBR. Despite my general lack of interest in their product, I was drawn to the bottle design of the Oatmeal Stout for some reason and optimistic that like their other seasonal that I've tried, the Imperial IPA, that the stout would be worth trying.

The commercial description of the Mendocino Oatmeal stout is as follows: "Jet black in color and full·bodied with a rich, creamy, long-lasting head. Robust, with luscious chocolate and coffee flavors, it is balanced with just the right amount of UK Golding hops. Brewed with massive quantities of oats, our Oatmeal Stout is smooth in the extreme. It pairs well with a wide range of hearty, full-flavored foods and delicious desserts. Our Oatmeal Stout is 6.0% alcohol by volume and 100% marvelous!"

This description is, surprisingly, fairly accurate. However, here are some amendments based on my observations. First, the beer had almost no head. The bit of head that it did have dissipated after about 12 seconds. Second, I paired this beer with some Kettle Brand Backyard Barbecue Chips, so I can't really comment on their pairing recommendations. Third, I would say the beer is more like 25% marvelous and 75% good. I really don't have any criticism of the stout, but it seems like maybe Mendocino is holding back just a little bit. Playing it safe may have won Mendocino the recent macro-brew convert crowd, but even their very satisfactory Oatmeal Stout can't make me a believer in the Hopland brewery.