Mendocino Brewing Redwood Stout
We’re well in the heart of winter now, and the dark, winter-warming beers have started filling the shelves. Mendocino’s seasonal Oatmeal Stout has joined this welcome migration of dark brews, and is also packaged with a new label celebrating the Mendocino Redwoods.
Good for Mothers and Invalids
According to most beer historians, oats have been used in brewing at least as far back and medieval times, but over time they lost popularity. Brewing with too much oats can cause a beer to be bitter, and growing barley (for both food and beer) had become more common.
Some regions, however, particularly the cool northern areas such as England and Scotland, continued the practice of growing oats. Oats contain large amounts of proteins and oils, which makes them a nutritious food choice in relatively harsh regions where few other foodcrops can grow. So it is no surprise that when brewing with oats found its way back into beer, the brew was first touted for its medicinal qualities.
The Beverage of the Century
When Oatmeal Stouts appeared back on the market in the late 1800s, they were accompanied by advertisements that claimed their value as a medicinal tonic.
“OATMEAL STOUT (Rose’s) most nourishing and strengthening, strongly recommended for Invalids. See medical opinions. Brewed from Oatmeal, Malt, and Hops only.”
–Aberdeen Journal, 1894
Other breweries followed suit, with the Maclay brewery in Scotland going so far as to patent their recipe (which used oat malts instead of oatmeal) and the name Oat Malt Stout. They also threatened legal action were anyone to infringe upon their new recipe for “The beverage of the Century.”
Nutritious Oatmalt Stout
Bringing Back the Oats
However, brewers were not deterred, continued to market the beer under a new name: Oatmeal Stout. By the early 1920’s, there were hundreds of oatmeal stouts on the market, still touting the brew’s restorative qualities, and many of them bearing Scottish style labels although they were brewed in England.
Oatmeal Stouts continued to grow in popularity into the 1900s, but began to decline around 1950. By the end of the 1970s, they were practically extinct, prompting the late, great Michael Jackson to observe that the beer was no longer being produced. The credit of reviving the style goes to Samuel Smith, who brewed an Oatmeal Stout for the U.S. market in the 1980s, and brought the brew back to life.
Mendocino’s Redwood Oatmeal Stout
Mendocino’s Oatmeal Stout is an excellent winter warmer, with notes of chocolate and coffee and a touch of caramel. With and ABV of 6% and a full, silky mouthfeel, it’s sure to make the long, dark nights of winter a bit better
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