The weather is getting cold, I’ve seen a few snow squalls, it is dark well before I make it home from work every day. You know what that means: it’s stout season! While I am not ready for brutal cold or for shoveling, I do love some dark and malty beers this time of year. On my most recent stock-up run I made an effort to focus on dark beer styles, with a nice mix of old favorites and new-to-me beers. One of the new-to-me selections was Bronze, an oatmeal milk stout from Proclamation Brewing Company. I’ve enjoyed a range of hoppy beers from Proclamation in the past, but this was the first dark beer I’ve tried from the brewery. I don’t think you can get a full picture of a brewery’s capabilities until you try a range of styles, so I was excited to see if this beer lived up to the high bar Proclamation has set with hop-forward beers like Derivative and Tendril. Proclamation Bronze is available during the winter months on draft and in 16 oz cans.
Proclamation Bronze pours deep brown with a small tan head. The aroma features rich roasted malts. The flavor is also malt-forward, notes of milk chocolate, coffee, and molasses along with a bit of sweetness. Earthy hops add balance and some late bitterness. Bronze is full-bodied from the addition of oats, but very smooth and not overkill boozy at 6.5% ABV. The finish is rich with some lingering malt flavor and sweetness. This is a very good version of an oatmeal milk stout, it checks all of the boxes you’d expect from the style descriptors. Great to see that Proclamation can also make awesome dark and malty beers! Hoppy Boston score: 4.5/5.
Previous Proclamation reviews:
Hoppy Boston 