Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: Porter
Denver, Colorado USA

Pours black with a not so large khaki head. Vanilla is real? Really? Reaks of synthetic vanilla syrup, or at least my bottle did. Once in my mouth tastes of a watery porter with overly bitter, metallic hops. I did not enjoy this beer at all.

Wow, and drark thick black with no head. Better appearence then the stouts. Aroma was vinallia. The flavor was vinalla with some malty aftertaste. Sort of a beer float without hte ice cream. The winner of the taster.

Bottle from Capones. Sampled with Dennis Bell. Mahogany pour with medium thick off white head. Vanilla aroma was definetly present with a mild nose of roast. Smooth taste with hints of vanilla. I don’t know if I can really call this a porter but it was a good brew none the less.

Tap at Kahootz: Dark brown with no head. It doesn’t have many of the familiar characteristics associated with porters like the charcoal, deep roasted flavor. This was akin to having a vanilla coke. It leaves an extemely sweet, sugary flavor in your mouth. In my opinion, it isn’t robust enough to be called a porter.

Pours drak brown with a 1.5 inch light tan head. Smell like sweet malt and strong vanilla. Taste is kinda weird, like a good beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream float. Finish is sugary and malt. Mouthfeel is medium. Pretty good, but not something I would probably buy again.

Pours dark brown. A thinner crème head doesn’t stick around long. Uneventful nose. Flavor is kind of tangy sweet, but not overpoweringly so. Thin, but good malt character. A bit too much of a sugar edge, but it’s not too bad. Feel is a bit thin on the liquid, but decent still. Minor carbonation. Not too bad a drinker. I could go for more than one, but this might be a good beer to pair with food. I am thinking hot wings or some kind of spicy lamb dish.

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.

I hear this beer is available where I live (WI), but I had it for the first time during a recent visit to CO. I liked it so much the first time I had it, I brought some home. Pours dark with a rich tan head; looks like a porter should look. Smells nice, and you pick up the vanilla from the aroma. Mouthfeel is what definitely makes this beer. Sometimes when mouthfeel/palate seems like a totally inappropriate question for a beer - but this beer stands out on this dimension. Flavor is definitely vanilla, and upon multiple trials, maybe too much so. This is not the world’s best porter that the good folks at Breckenridge merely added vanilla to. Rather, the vanilla seems to really finish the base beer. Good, but after having a few times, I get how other reviewers have criticized the vanilla flavor as having a chemical taste.