Tenaya Creek Brewery
Las Vegas, NV
Originally opened as a restaurant and brewery in 1999, Tenaya Creek Brewery ceased kitchen operations in 2008 to focus solely on brewing beer. Hauling Oats is the brewery’s take on an oatmeal stout.
ABV: 5.7
ABW: 4.5
COLOR: 40
BITTERNESS: 31
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1057
AVAILABLE: AZ, AL, BC, CA, NV, UT
Hands down, this beery “Kiss is On My List” of the best beer names ever. “Private Eyes” might note that Hauling Oats pours the color of black coffee with a tan topper that recedes quickly—my glassful “Did It in a Minute.” Aromas of chocolate-chip cookies and oatmeal go “One on One” and rise from the glass as the first sip reveals hints of licorice that play well with the predominant flavors. Hauling Oats finishes richer than an ’80s pop duo, leaving one to reply “Say It Isn’t So” upon learning the bottle is empty.
A tribute to the vocal duo Hall & Oates? Seems like I misheard. But that’s fine. This beer needs no gimmicks. Chocolate cookies, leather and mellow coffee in the aroma suggest this is going to be a “Rich Girl” of a stout, and that’s confirmed by the slightly fudgy malt and oaty smoothness of the taste, which is loaded with coffee, cookies, toasted grains, tobacco and bitter coffee. Smoky roasted grains and coffee fill the dry (perhaps a little astringent), bitter finish. It’s a substantial beer but no “Maneater.” A beer to make “Sara Smile.” I can go for that.
Lisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, talks beer every day at her beer store and taproom, Belmont Station, and on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.
