A nice finish to what I’ve decided now to call Stout Week. It was an unofficial celebration that started on St. Patrick’s Day with a McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout (Belfast Bay, Maine), a beer that was impressively identified by my friend Jess by a postage stamp-sized corner of a label from this picture on Monday.
I figured last weekend that I’d like to have some stout on hand for St. Pat’s to have with the corned beef, and I got a mix of old favorites and new ones to try. (Yes, I know I passed right over the Irish stouts. I originally went looking for some that were on this list of 10 Best American Stouts, but came home with a totally different mix.)
In this week’s unscientific study, I enjoyed the following:
Belfast Bay, McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout
Shipyard Blue Fin Stout
Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout
Sierra Nevada Stout
Eric’s wedding beer Old Barley and Chain Stout (homebrew, version 2.0?)
Breckenridge Brewery Oatmeal Stout
Keegan Ales Mother’s Milk Stout
My favorites were the McGovern’s, Eric’s Old Barley and Chain (good luck finding this one; can sometimes be bartered for with rye bread and corned beef, or shared when visiting the garage on brew day), and Keegan’s Mother’s Milk.
Old favorites of mine that I’d like to include for next time are some heavy hitters: Founder’s Breakfast Stout, Young’s Oatmeal Stout, and Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout. Any other recommendations?
Smoke Cure Pickle Brew 
I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison, but Left Hand Milk Stout is one of my go-tos out here.
It looks like there’s a big Connecticut-shaped gap in Left Hand’s distribution map. BUT they have it in New York. I bet they have it at DiCiccos. So it’s going on the list! http://lefthandbrewing.com/beer-finder/