Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: Porter
Denver, Colorado USA

Draught: Aroma of vanilla and dark roasted malts. Poured black with hints of ruby and a very rocky, medium-sized, tan head that diminished by lasted. Good lacing. Lightly sparkling. Medium sweet flavor. Tastes of vanilla, cream, roasting, and a hint of piney hops. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Vanilla/cream finish. Almost like a cream soda beer.

I remember this being better on tap than out of the bottle, but I may just be fooling myself. Flavor is a very light vanilla, only caught it at the very end, the coffee, malt and hops covers it up quite well. Flavor was average, the hops left it bitter on my tongue, perhaps putting it in at the end of the boil would have helped. nothing remarkable and I definitely wouldn’t buy this again, would get Youngs Double Chocolate.

Bottle: Sweet, lightly vanilla, lightly nutty aroma; biscuity and bready maltiness over a syrupy, lightly roasty and substantially chololaty base; dead head; yin & yang of chocolate and vanilla; suprizingly good, if a bit sweet.

Though a tad sweeter than I usually go for, this is a highly credible brew. The vanilla presents itself rather subtly in the nose with a touch of smoke swirled through. The palate is a sugary vanilla blended with smoky, rich walnuts.

Sampler at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/frankf Liquors, Frankfort. Light vanilla nose that for once does not overwhelm the base style. Color, though, tends to the light part of the porter spectrum. The vanilla taste does outdo the porter malts for attention, though. But at least it’s pleasant and not overwhleming. Bitterness at the end seems to come more from the vanilla beans.

Bottle. I rather enjoyed this porter. The Vanilla adds a nice extra layer of flavor, imparting a touch of sweetness to an otherwise bitter style. The beer itself is a midnight black with an off-white head. It smells of sugar and vanilla with a touch of roasted espresso. The flavor is smooth and sweet vanilla with just a bit of hoppy bite. These guys definitely created a solid quality brew in this one.

I thought this was going to be a bad joke, vanilla in my porter? Quite the contrary, it was a fine brew. Poured a rich black with an aroma of white chocolate that lead to well balanced porter where the addition of vanilla is niether under or overwhelming. Nor is the beer to sweet which is always a concern when unusual ingredients are added. Manages to finish smooth and even a little bitter. Perfect after dinner beer.

Draft @ the Breckenridge brewpub: Poured a clear very dark chestnut brown with an off-white head. The aroma is of milk chocolate and vanilla with a light roast. The flavor had some roasted malt with an artificial vanilla taste. Semi-sweet finish with a light-medium body.