Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: Porter
Denver, Colorado USA

Pint at Denver pub 10/12/2008. Slight smokiness and vanilla hints in aroma. Dark amber brown with small tan head. Nice vanilla bean flavor and roast up front. Medium body and mouthfeel. Finish is fairly dry and slightly astringent.

I had heard great things about this beer before I tried it. Granted, I heard them from people who do not know that much about good beer, but still, you get my point. Wow, were they wrong. You might as well have just given me a vanilla been and told me to chew on that for awhile instead of having this beer. That is not to say that it is not well-crafted, it is for the most part, however there are issues in the body (thinness). My problem with the beer is that it tastes so much of vanilla that the nut and chocolate flavors get blown away and you are left with a vanilla bomb. If you have ever drank vanilla extract on accident you might know what I am talking about. If you liked it, then you should probably drink this beer.

12oz bottle: Pours a black brown color, small head, brownish. Very strong coffee aroma, some chocolate. Not very strong aroma. Strong coffee taste, watery. Not a strong coffee aftertaste. Just a good porter taste. Slight vanilla taste. But uery watery overall.

On tap at the Breckenridge brewery tasting room. Pours a very dark brown body with a small, beige head that leaves minimal lacing. Aroma is loaded with sweet, but mild vanilla bean. Good amount of toasted caramels and chocolate malts in there too. Slightly nutty, but not a lot of hop backing or roasted malts. The vanilla makes this very mellow smelling, but quite rich. Flavor is rich as well, with a lot of sweet vanilla and nuts dominating the traditional porter taste. Nice milky chocolates balance the vanilla quite well. The light roasted grains start to kick in during the finish giving it a bit of a roasty lingering taste. The finish is also very mellow and sweet with a lingering toasted caramel as well as rich, milk chocolate. Palate is very creamy, medium bodied, and clean. Overall, a pretty solid vanilla porter, especially on tap. Not the typical roasty porter, but they don’t advertise it as such. Good stuff and enjoyed drinking it at the brewery.

Dark pout. Aroma of roasted malt with some coffee. Coffee, dark fruit and only a faint vanilla taste.

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.

I’m kind of not sure what to say about this. Typical dark colour with a thin but tenacious head. Typical roasty aroma with maybe a tiny hint of vanilla in there. The flavour is again a typical roasted chocolate/coffee porter with some smooth and semi sweet vanilla to round it out.

Bottle. Nose is pure vanilla with a touch of sweetness reminiscent of root beer. Dark brown with an off-white head. Flavor is vanilla-heavy, which works for about 3 sips. After that it becomes intolerable and drain-pour material. This beer should be held up as an example as to why 3 oz. samples don’t provide accurate ratings.