Terrapin Beer Company - Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (AKA: Wake-n-Bake)

When it comes to Georgia (and most southern states, for that matter), I'll admit that I don't know a whole lot. I know they have some crazy housewives. I know that the laws could be better for you if you happen to be a homebrewer. I know they don't do things like "winter" well. And I know that they make some apparently great beer that never seems to come this way. Thanks to the trade with my friend, Tyler, I finally got the chance to try some of the great beer Georgia has to offer.  At #179, Terrapin's Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (better known as Wake-n-Bake).

Wake-n-Bake pours a thick looking black color with a thin, light brown head. It's not the beefiest looking beer out there, but some subtle wisps of lace after each sip let you know that there's some body to it. The aroma explodes out of the glass with a huge blast of freshly ground dark roast coffee. Its rich, earthy and nutty and makes you feel like pretty much every other coffee beer you've smelled is far inferior. As the beer warms, sweeter notes of cream, chocolate and freshly baked sugar cookie start to come out a bit more. This thing smells awesome.

The dark roasted coffee doesn't let up when it comes to the beer's taste. It absolutely mauls your palate and it's nothing short of awesome. Every sip sends an explosion of amazing coffee flavors all over your mouth. Beneath the coffee are notes of burnt fudge, brownie brittle, hazelnut, vanilla and brown sugar. The finish brings in some espresso and a big bittersweet chocolate note. As far as equals in the Non-Barrel Aged Coffee Stout department, I'm not sure this beer has one that I've tasted. The most obvious competition would be Founders Breakfast Stout, but (to me, at least) Wake-n-Bake blows it away. I may need some more southern beer in my life soon. This stuff is amazing.

Final Grade: A+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 132

Founders Brewing Company - Founders Breakfast Stout

For as long as I've been into craft beer, I've been trying to get my hands on Founders Breakfast Stout. It's a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout (seriously, what doesn't sound good about that?) that has been getting amazing reviews for a long time now. I knew I had to try this beer, but the issue was how I was going to go about that. I tried the trade route, getting as far as having a trade in place for one before things fell through. Discouraged, I tried the online route, but all the shops I looked at never seemed to have any Breakfast Stout in stock. Recently, I was finally able to find a shop from Minnesota that had it in stock. So after a long, long wait, here's #26 on the Top 100- Founders Breakfast Stout.

Founders Breakfast Stout pours a motor oil black color with a near identical consistency. Despite a pretty vigorous pour, the beer yielded only a tiny light brown head before it quickly settled down into the black. I tried this beer pretty much straight out of the fridge, and was really surprised by the lack of coffee in the smell. In fact, the smell was downright weak. But then, I gave it about 20 minutes to warm up and it made a huge difference. All of a sudden, huge notes of dark roasted coffee, burnt wood, black licorice, and some faint cooked oat aromas came flying out of the glass. This was more like it! The coffee smell is probably only matched by another beer from Founders, Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

The taste opens with a nice and velvety smoothness with some soft notes of roasted malt and oats. Then the beer sucker punches you with a huge hit of rich dark roasted coffee, burnt coffee grounds, unsweetened baking chocolate and a touch of cola nut. The finish leaves a lingering acrid coffee and roasted malt bitterness that's pretty intense and pretty incredible. My one knock on this beer is that it feels a bit thin, but the oats do their best to keep the feel from getting way too thin. Overall, this is a pretty incredible beer, and one that's even better once it warms up. There have been rumors that Founders may start distributing to San Diego in the near future. I can only hope those rumors are true, because I would love to be able to drink this stuff on a regular basis.

Final Grade: A

Top 100 Beers Tasted: 40