A rich, hearty, and robust brew.  Green Flash is more well known for their hop-centric beers, but this darker trip on the roasted malt side did not disappoint.  Brewed with oats and a generous portion of roasted malts this stout actually walks the line between Black Ale/Porter/Oatmeal Stout very well.  The pour form Green Flash’s new bottles is a deep mahogany that turns into a garnet hue when in the glass.  The head is fluffy and dense looking close to that of mocha in color.  By the looks of it this was a brew made for the hard working class…much like a porter.  It did not seem overly viscous (given the term double) so I felt the 8.8% abv could be tamed.

The smell was out right fantastic.  Super roasty, coffee, and astringent burnt grains.  It had a very Dry Stout aroma that lead into a faint oatmeal grain bag quality (which I love).  The oats give off a Founders Breakfast Stout-like character that blended perfectly with the roasted grains.  The hops lent a subtle kick in the form of a piney, pungent character.

The taste was rather full bodied.  Here is where the “double” aspect come into affect.  Smooth, chocolaty, creamy, coffee, and astringent would be the first words out of my mouth.  Interestingly there was a mild sweetness (similar to a milk stout) that seems to coat the palate.  It did so in a soft way with the help of the oats.  There is where the beer has that great oatmeal stout quality.  The astringent grains and robust flavor reminded me more of a black lager or ale.  The slight hop bite combined with the burnt malt in a very pleasing way.  A rich coffee finish was like that of a good porter.  The finish is very complex with roasted grain, sweetness, oats, and hops.  A multi-layered brew indeed.  This was a great beer and very drinkable considering the higher abv.  Went down like a sessionable Dry Stout.