Georgia beer laws sure are crazy. For the longest time, you couldn’t buy beer to go at a brewery or brewpub. A few years ago, the law was amended such that breweries could sell a small amount of beer (but only as part of a tour); brewpubs were left out in the cold. Then the state liquor control authority decided brewpubs could sell beer directly if (and only if) the local municipality approved it. As of September 1^st of 2017, the tour restriction on breweries will be lifted, but brewpubs will still be subject to local decision.

Brewpubs can (and do) sell beer through distributors, however, and that’s how I got myself a crowler of The Wrecking Bar Sow Your Wild Oatmeal Porter at Stout’s. I have enjoyed this beer before at the brewpub in Little Five Points, but it’s so nice to be able to enjoy it at home, too, fresh from the tap. Everything Wrecking Bar does turns into gold, and this beer is no exception.

From the brewpub website:

For those that want a beer with complex malt flavors, but not the extra roasty flavors of a stout, our Oatmeal Porter is your beer. This Porter contains prominent notes of chocolate, biscuits and dark fruit and smoothness from a big portion of flaked oats. Just enough English hops to balance.

The Wrecking Bar Sow Your Wild Oatmeal Porter has an alcohol content of 6.5% by volume with 35 IBUs. I paid $8.50 for a 32-ounce crowler at Stouts.

The Wrecking Bar Sow Your Wild Oatmeal Porter pours to a jet-black color with a thick creamy tan head through my Fizzics draft system. The nose is full of oatmeal and chocolate, and a sip reveals a medium body with smooth silky oats, milk and dark chocolate, licorice, and a wonderfully dry roasty finish.  Just wonderful, this is everything I want an Oatmeal Porter to be. It’s smooth and silky (I said that already) and full-bodied but not overbearing in its wonderful roastiness.

For whatever reason, porters are scarce amongst Georgia brewers in my experience. I don’t know why. The Wrecking Bar Sow Your Wild Oatmeal Porter gets my vote for the best porter from any brewery in Georgia. If you’re extra good, you might find the Cask Neapolitan Porter variation at the brewpub. It’s Sow Your Wild Oatmeal Porter cask conditioned with vanilla bean, strawberries & organic cocoa nibs and served from a beer engine. It’s simply amazing, and I get it every time I see it on.  

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler



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