Izzy's - Summit Oatmeal Stout

Summit Oatmeal Stout - Ice Cream flavored with reduced Summit Oatmeal Stout

The ice cream reviews are on the road again!  This time, I have returned to my birthplace, Saint Paul, Minnesota, to visit family.  While I am here, I figure I might as well sample the local ice cream brands.  Minnesota and Wisconsin are known for their dairy farms and where there are dairy farms, there is usually good ice cream.  The first brand I'm trying out is Izzy's Ice Cream.  Izzy's was founded as a scoop shop on Marshall Avenue in Saint Paul in 2000 by the husband and wife team of Lara Hammel and Jeff Sommers.  The shop was an immediate success and Izzy's quickly became not only a local institution but became nationally recognized as well.  In 2006, it was featured on an episode of the Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay (Izzy's won!).  Today, we're reviewing their Summit Oatmeal Stout flavor where the primary ingredient is a local craft brew from the Summit Brewing Company.

Removing the lid shows a light brown color of the stout-based ice cream.  Stout's are very dark in color but here it was only enough to turn the ice cream into a beige-ish color. The first spoonful was fairly mild in flavor but I could taste some oatmeal.  After a few spoonfuls, I got a similar flavor in my mouth that I get when I'm having a pint of Guinness -- that's the stout.  I am not a beer afficianado, though.  Overall, it was a bit too mild for my tastes.  The Summit web page boasts "hints" of coffee, caramel and chocolate which may be fine when you are savoring a pint of the beverage, but for a pint of ice cream, I'd prefer more concentrated flavors.  Last year's Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale flavor from Ben & Jerry's was a better combination for me because of the strong mix-ins and the ale in the base provided a stronger kick compared to the stout here.

I would recommend this flavor only if you are a fan of stout beer and are curious to see how that would taste in ice cream format.  I think I may have made a mistake picking this as my first Izzy's flavor.  I was lured in by the local craft brewery connection.  I will try to sneak in another pint of Izzy's later on this trip.