couchand (182), Iowa City, Iowa, USA Mar 17, 2008 Deep copper, thin straw head.
Rich roasty aroma. Chocolate, coffee.
Dry, lively palate.
Roasty, some metallic, light vanilla. daddyslick (36), Arizona, USA Mar 16, 2008 Definitely a drinkable beer. The vanilla flavor was mild as was the smokiness that porters tend to have. Very smoothe goign down. esjaygee (1467), Oak Creek, Wisconsin, USA Mar 16, 2008 12oz bottle. Dark brown w brown 2 inch head. Mild vanilla odor with decent lacing. Medium palate with heavy vanilla finish, almost too vanilla. Cola-like, malty. A so-so effort for a porter. unclemike (834), Ft. Riley, Kansas, USA Mar 14, 2008 Bottle. Pours black. Very little head. Smells like a chilled coffee. At first, I taste some nuttiness, and then it turns to a creamy vanilla-like melted vanilla bean ice cream. Finish is abrupt. No texture; watery, and composition is very light in the mouth. Seems like this has two stages: nutty, then vanilla—and then it’s gone. Easy to drink, though.
msjacilynn (18), St Paul, Minnesota, USA Mar 13, 2008 bottle. pours dark-brown with a thick tan head. smells of vanilla and roasted nuts. tastes of undeniable vanilla, almost a burnt taste and too much of it for my liking. while I could see enjoying a nice glass of this on a cold winter night in front of a fireplace, I really would like to see the vanilla toned down a bit. lweiberg (89), Eagan, Minnesota, USA Mar 10, 2008 Very malty and fleeting, somewhat thin and definitely low ABV. It doesn’t go wrong at any point, and I really didn’t taste too much vanilla, but it’s a decent beer, although I wouldn’t pay more than $6 for a sixer. asedzie (453), San Francisco, California, USA Mar 9, 2008 Pours deep brownish black, no discernable head. Nose is vanilla, chocolate, tiny hints of lactic sourness. Flavor is lightly bitter, with mild bitterness and light astringency lingering in the finish. Palate is very full. Very nice consistency and balance. FlacoAlto (2473), Tucson, Arizona, USA Mar 8, 2008 A reasonably vigorous pour only produces a thin finger thickness, lightly browned, tan colored head. The beer is a deep brown color that is almost black, but it does show a clear, concentrated, ruby hue when held up to the light. Light aromas of vanilla mix in with roasty dark malt notes. The nose has a slight burnt acidity to it, some well toasted bread aromas, a touch of blackened espresso notes and perhaps a touch of malty chocolate. The vanilla is fairly restrained, though easily noticeable, but the base beers aroma does not seem to match the vanilla notes very well.
Not as thin as I was expecting, this has a soft creaminess to it and a certain fullness to it that helps to lightly coat the mouth. The vanilla is much more noticeable in the flavor than it was in the aroma. The vanilla definitely dominates the flavor profile, but there is still some roast grain character that pokes through especially towards the finish were bitter, burnt flavors kick in a bit along with a touch of roast acidity. The vanilla is accented by sweet malt flavors that are note really noticeable underneath the vanilla notes, but are definitely here. This has a very low hop presence, as expected, with perhaps a touch of bitterness being all I notice.
This is definitely a vanilla focused brew, this would not be such a bad thing if the base beer was a bit more noticeable underneath. Instead all I really get is an overly burnt malt character, that doesn’t really seem to contribute positively. Though I really like the texture and mouthfeel of this brew.
Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ
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