Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Breckenridge Brewery
Style: Porter
Denver, Colorado USA

12oz bottle at home on January 2, 2009. When I first poured this I thought there was no head. Funny, I thought I remembered head. Well, the head seemed to miraculously form after I poured. Must say something about itself. Not impressive at first, but it really grows on you. Its color is a thick, deep dark brown with a brown glow. Thin, bubbly lacing and an aroma that reminds me of something baking in the kitchen. Flavor also reminds me of baked goods. Vanilla not overpowering, but the addition of the standard roasted, nutty, and cocoa flavors make this a neat, and different beer. A little sweet at times, but definitely not overdone. Well-balanced. Thin, but with a bold finish.

BOTTLE: dark brown pour, looks as thin on the pour as it tastes. Nice vanilla aroma, more vanilla on taste, not much roastiness. A good drinker, but not spectacular.

Not as opaque as some Porters, but still dark. A small white head. Good carbonation on the pour. Lots of sweet vanilla in the nose. Some roasted notes as well. The flavor delivers what the aroma promised, lots of vanilla and sweet flavors dominate. A little thin on the palate.

Very dark brown/garnet but not terribly thick-looking; tan, mostly fizzy, slightly frothy head diminishes into a tiny ring. Aroma and flavor are almost identical: Very heavy vanilla, light caramel and toffee; sweet; almost no noticeable hops. By the time you get halfway through the beer your "vanilla sensors" have worn out, and the true plainness of the beer comes out. Medium body; lightly sticky. I absolutely love this level of vanilla, but without the vanilla this would be an extremely lame beer; not anywhere near as sugary or sticky as some people are making it out to be at all.

Bottle Dark maroon pour with a little white head with low retention. Aroma of vanilla and some malt. Flavor has a bit of roasted malt porter flavor, but dominated by the vanilla. Strong vanilla and roasted aftertaste. Better than I was expecting.

I think that this beer is exactly what you think it’s going to be going into it. The only thing that I have to add to all of these ratings is that this finished like metallic butterscotch pudding.

Drank poured from the bottle into a pint glass. The aroma was good, a mixture of roasted chocolate, coffee, nut, and caramel malt, with a slight vanilla tone. It had a dark color, basically black, with a fairly small, short-lived, off-white head. It’s flavor was predominantly sweet, with a vanilla tone, a touch of nut, and slight sourness. The palate was pretty wet and it had a very full, creamy mouthfeel, but only average to light carbonation. I liked this beer, it had good character, and was very drinkable.

Bottle. No date on label. Pours a deep dark mahogany with very little beige head. Nose is very coffee like with notes of vanilla, chocolate, and roastiness. Kind of thin in body and with a hidden carbonation that is fairly intense once in the mouth, as well as slightly chalky at times. Flavor is chocolately and roasty with some nuttiness. There are vanilla flavors kind of over the top of everything else. In the finish there is some ashiness along with roastiness and light bitterness. Maybe a hint of cola too. Slightly overdone on the burnt malt flavors and maybe on the vanilla as well even though I do like them. The cigarette ash is a bummer though. Not bad, not quite right, but not bad. I think I’d try it again.