Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Artificial vanilla extract tastes fake because of the chemically taste of ethyl vanillin, compared to the smoother taste from vanillin. Vanillin is present in vanilla beans, ethyl vanillin is not. Ethyl vanillin is added to the artificial vanilla extract along with vanillin because it is >3X stronger and more stable. That concludes our lesson for today LOL. I don’t get any fake vanilla character from this beer. In fact, I think the character is nicely integrated although a bit more obvious in the taste than I would probably brew myself. The roast character is also too restrained for my taste, so all in all a good attempt here but not a home run.

Bottle. Poured ruby and dark brown with an almost one finger head that was off-white to tan in color. The faintest trace of lacing hung around my pint glass. Vanilla does indeed smack you in the face when you get deep whiff of this brew, but it’s a vanilla that reminded me of Vanilla Pepsi, not the vanilla my Mom used when making chocolate chip cookies. A bit of roasted malt is noted too. The flavor reminded me still of a can of Vanilla Pepsi. Too artificial. The flavor of roasted malt crept through, but not enough to put down the evil beast that is artificial-vanilla. On the watery side in terms of mouthfeel. Silly.

tap at the brewpub. wow, this smells and tastes like artificail vanilla . it was hard to get through, and i am a vanilla freak. this was not pleasant. i can think of nothing to recommend it, but it is notably bland in other ways.

Pours a very dark amber brown, almost cola like with a medium creamy white beige head. Aroma of vanilla Coke and malts. Taste is like drinking a vanilla cola with roasted faint malts. Nothing special here.

Tap. Pours dark brown with a decent sized tan colored head. Aroma is vanilla, roasted malts. Flavor is vanilla, some roasty malts, little else. Palate is medium to light, on the watery side, medium carbonation, vanilla-y finish. This is so one dimentional. Vanilla tastes almost like flavoring, not good.

Wow...a real vanilla bomb. For those of us that thought baking vanilla was wonderful when we were young. Breckenridge has made a very drinkable Porter that certainly appeals to vanilla fans.

I think this beer is a little wanting for flavor, or maybe I was just expecting too much. The vanilla shines through, but only at the end and it’s through a murky cloud of burnt chocolate and other unidentifiable roasted flavors. This is tasty, but not great.

Bottle poured black with small head and lacing. Light aroma of chocolate, malt, caramel. Flavor is a bit metalic with hints of roast,chocolate and maybe a little vanilla on the finish.
Not bad.