Millstream Colony Oatmeal Stout Lager

[ontap78]

I got a sixer of this from a friend of mine in Iowa. It's made in Amana, Iowa so I'll assume it's made by the Amish.I'm finishing my last bottle as I type and I really hate to see it go because I can't get any here in MN.It's a really smooth stout with a nice creamy head that dissipates almost right away, but I can forgive that. Less debris in the moustachio don't you know. I really like this beer and if you ever see it I think you should give it a whirl. I guess I've never seen a lagered stout before. Has anybody else out there?

[hopjack13]

hell, i've never even heard of one! :eek:

[steveh]

I haven't had a Millstream in years, didn't even know they were still around.

According to their web site, they say that they use a lager yeast because, "...we wanted ours to be as smooth as our lagers!" Hard to imagine a "rough" oatmeal stout.

It doesn't say anything about using the actual lagering practice, but I imagine it could be a pretty estery stout if it wasn't cold lagered for a while.

Their choice of ingredient can probably be equated to the development of Baltic Porters from Ales to Lagers when the process was perceived as the "new and improved" brewing process.

S.

http://www.millstreambrewing.com/stout.html

[fretlessman71]

steveh, I'm really interested in what you said about Baltic Porters... can you either tell me more about that or post a link to a place where I could read more about it? T'would give me some perspective when I get that far down my porter list... :)

[chazwicke]

Who was it that used to brew Amana Beer and later Gemeinde Brau? It was supposedly made in the Amana Colonies. Was it the old Picket / Debuque Star brewery?

[steveh]

I've talked about it before - don't know if I can find the link, basically: the Baltic brewers began brewing English style porters because the style was so popular in the region (sort of the same as Stout in Russia). When bottom fermenting was discovered, they figured it was the new wave and soon it would be the only way brewing would be done - so they adapted their Porter recipes to a lager.

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Was it the old Picket / Debuque Star brewery?

The Dubuque Star Brewery is, indeed, in Dubuque - which is not an Amana colony, the last I knew.

S.

[chazwicke]

But the question remains, were they the brewers of Amana Beer and later Gemeinde Brau? I had those beers in the 70s and can picture the cans. The Amana was white lettering on a black can and the Gemeinde brau was a green and black can. I remember hearing that they had to stop using the Amana label because of a lawsuit or something so it was chainged to the gemeinde brau. Both beers were supposedly brewed or marketed to the Amana colony.

[steveh]

The Dubuque Star/Piket brewery has often contract brewed (what they're doing exclusively these days, I believe), but the only Amana beer I've been aware of is Millstream...that is not to say there haven't been others over the years.

My faves from DS were always their Rhomberger line from back in the late '80s. I miss those, they were partly responsible for the start of my good-beer awareness.

S.

[chazwicke]

Actually I checked it out. Amana beer was brewed by Cold Spring in Minnesota.

Here is a link. you have to scroll down to the Amana can.

http://beercansrus.com/mcart/index.cgi?code=3&cat=9

[ontap78]

I don't drink anything that comes out of the ColSpring brewery anymore.They currently brew the Gluek lines and a few other bad beers, but mostly they make energy drinks these days.

[chazwicke]

I know they have been contract brewing forever it seems. They were one of the brewers of Billy Beer.