Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale- Vanilla Aged

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Brown Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Big thanks to Dan for this one. Pours a light brown with a small beige head. Aroma of caramel, coffee and vanilla with a lot of roast. Flavor is of roasted malt, caramel and vanilla. Body is a bit thin. Probably not in top form as the growler leaked... still nice.

Name: Maduro Brown, Vanilla
Date: June 26, 2009
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting
Appearance: clear brown, scant head
Aroma: sweet vanilla and chocolate aroma
Flavor: sweet chocolate and vanilla flavor, vanilla adds a lot of sweetness and complements the chocolate, light balancing bitterness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **+/4

@dmacs UFC100 Gathering 1QT growler/hipothicary jar–pours a thin light tan head and deep red color. Aroma is vanilla, sweet medium malt-toffee, earthy. Taste is vanilla, sweet medium malt-toffee, earthy/spice hops bite.

32oz growler shared by kp at the Brick Store, tasted side-by-side with the Espresso Maduro. Pours a deep, clear copper brown with a short-lived bubbly tan head that recedes to a small ring leaving very little lacing. The aroma is much sweeter than the original Maduro and the vanilla really shines through in tandem with the underlying caramel malts. The hops are less prevalent than in the original as well, but the signature tobacco aroma can still be detected in the nose. The taste is close to the aroma and starts out very sweet with the vanilla, caramel and chocolate carrying the front of the taste. There is a toasted malt backbone that shows through in the middle, though the sweetness has overrun it a bit and the finish is slightly dry with the tobacco and some nuts coming out. The mouthfeel is very smooth with low carbonation, probably due to the growler. It’s fairly full bodied. This is another solid offering from CCB though I probably prefer the original Maduro to this one. It’s definitely sweeter and less roasty, but this coffee-lover prefers the espresso version in the head-to-head as well.

Growler from sebletitje. Thanks! Poured cleark dark brown with a nice white head. Aroma of vanilla, caramel, chocolate, wood, nuts. Taste is vanilla, sweet malt, nut, light wood, light citrus hop. Finish is dry and lightly bitter. Very well done.

Poured a clear amber color with a small, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla, caramel malts, nuts., toast, toffee, and wood. Taste of vanilla, caramel malts, nuts, a bit of citrus, and a dry finish.

Growler from CCB. Pours a dark brown color with a khaki hue and a small, foamy tan colored head. Some spots of lacing are left behind in the glass. The aroma shows the caramel and chocolate malt base with hints of toasted nuts, marshmellows, and vanilla bean. Pretty sweet smelling. The flavor follows suit with the caramel and chocolate coming through and then quickly followed by the vanilla beans and marshmellows. The vanilla really changes the complexion and quells the roasty elements of the other versions. I really like the flavor the vanilla beans add to this beer. Medium body and smooth with just the right amount of carbonation with the vanilla sweetness left behind. This is another really solid brown ale.

Growler sample at Muckfest 2009 Day 2. Pours a clear amber/light brown with a thin tan head. Malty aroma with caramel and a ton of vanilla. Lots of vanilla flavor up front with a semi-tart caramel finish. A lot more like the espresso version than the cacao version in terms of subtlety (as in there is none). Not bad, but there’s no question that the espresso is my favorite of the bunch (having not tasted the cedar aged).