Beer Review: Wynkoop Brewing Company Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout

Brewery: Wynkoop Brewing Company
Beer: Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout
Style: American Stout
ABV: 7.5%
Character: Brewed with Colorado base malts, roasted barley, seven specialty malts, Styrian Goldings hops, and 25 pounds of freshly sliced and roasted bull testicles.
Metal Connection: ACCEPT – Balls to the Wall

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I remember hearing about this beer way before I was doing beer trades, and I always wanted to get my hands on a can of this interesting beer. Yes, I always thought the fact that this beer was brewed with bull testicles was interesting. I mean, people eat Rocky Mountain Oysters, so why not brew with them, right? Well, Wynkoop first talked about this beer in 2012 as an April Fool’s Day Joke, complete with a video promo for the fake beer (see original video here). The demand for the beer was so high, that the brewery actually had to make this beer which saw a release in 2013. After gaining a trusting friendship with Jorge Espinoza of the website brewerianimelogs, the beer trades started rolling in, including a can of this unique beer from the original first batch that was brewed. A huge thanks to Jorge for sending me this beer!

I used a collectable pint glass for The Walking Dead for this session. The color of this beer is damn near black, but it is really a deep, dark opaque brown. Even with a soft pour, the beer headed up pretty rapidly and finished with a large 2.5 inch tan foamy head. The head dwindled down to about a half inch, and stuck around for most of the session, leaving an awesome sheet of sticky lacing down the glass.

The aroma is surprisingly pleasant. Notes of dark roasty malts, chocolate, salted caramel, molasses or brown sugar, dark fruits (raisins, dates, plums) are all present in the nose. There is also a nice creamy milk smell, reminding me of a good Milk Stout. Finally, as funny as this sounds, there is a fragrance of nuts (actual nuts, not the bull testicles, dammit!).

The flavor profile has all the same characters as the nose. Right up front, as soon as the beer hits the taste buds, there are the flavors of chocolate, salted caramel, molasses, and the dark fruit notes of raisins, dates, and plums. Mid drink, the taste of dark roasty malts, and nuts are present. The best part for me was the finish of the drink. There was a strong creamy chocolate milk profile that really helped make this a great beer.

Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout has a nice medium body. The mouthfeel is smooth, silky, and creamy with a dry finish. There is low carbonation, and the alcohol was masked very well behind all the flavor.

I will say that at first, even though I was very intrigued to try this beer, I was also a bit freaked out by it’s contents. The fact that this beer has a creamy mouthfeel, and notes of nuts made writing this review pretty hard not to sound weird at times. The stupid little kid inside made me giggle a lot when I mentioned these things. I am very happy that I was able to get my hands on this beer, and I hope to one day get more. I would love to share this beer with my friends that I work with and my awesome customers.

Metal Connection: Pretty fuckin easy with this one. Balls to the Wall was the perfect and most appropriate choice for the Metal Connection here. First of all, the word “balls” in the title, and secondly, the phrase itself means to go full speed ahead, which in this case, Wynkoop did just that by actually brewing this strange beer. Pushing the envelope a bit further for future brewers to start adding in more outrageous ingredients. Nothing says Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout quite like Udo’s voice screaming “Balls to the Wall, Man!”