Empyrean Dark Side Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Empyrean Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Lincoln, Nebraska USA

Pitch black with a nice creamy head. Super creamy consistency. The flavor borders between the vanilla coke I got on the first swallow and a coffee ice cream that I got later.

Served way, way to cold, but flavors still managed to come out while waiting for it to warm. Maybe the brewery fixed things since KVFL had this, because I found this to be one of the tastiest porters I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. Creamy, tan head. Sweet malty, vanilla aroma. Great mouthfeel with coffee and chocolate flavors in just the right strength. Just a pint left me with a buzz for the better part of an hour, my empty stomach might have had a little to with that though. On my way back to school I'll have to stop back by Lazlo's and get a case of this stuff.

Dark Side is a pure treat. A fantastic porter with a hint of vanilla. A must try if you are in the area. Empyrean is on the move and has several great beers to enjoy. I find a slight ruby color similar to a stout, it also carries a light creamy head. This is a perfect addition to Cheesecake!

Poured dark brown with thin tan head. Only a hint of vanilla in the aroma, sweet malt was most pronounce. At first taste I only sensed coffee, so I waited. After it warmed up a bit, I tried again...much better. Room temperature was the way to go on this one. Vanilla was very much present, coffee flavor subsided. This was very good.

Very subtle vanilla flavor and aroma. Complimented the coffee and cocoa flavors very well.

Good dark brown color,small tan head that faded fast and left nothing behind.The aroma was roasty and coffee with a mild hop presence.The flavor was much different from the aroma,The malt was a little lighter then expected but instead of coffee i got a malted milkball flavor,nice showing of vanilla and some hops do manage to show up but just in the tail end to break up the monotony of the vanilla and sweetness.IMO this is a nicely done Vanilla Porter,so i’ll have to side with AustinMilbarge on this one and go with a better score then some of the others.Thanks go to Matt_Dinges for sending another nice brew from these guys.

12oz Bottle. Southwestern grill twang leaps off the glass, followed by a strong waft of my grandfather’s leather recliner and a billow of his pipe tobacco, era 1970. That vanilla works in a real musky, earthen tobacco manner. Tar and cloth. Wow, now that I’ve zeroed in on vanilla pipe tobacco I can’t escape it. Enjoyable if unique. Pours the color of a burnt tobacco bowl, with a seltzer-like rim of tinted tan. Flavor tastes very much like the aroma. Tobacco juice lingers and it’s seems as if I’ve just taken a long, solemn draw from my fishing pipe. Chase that with a standard brown porter in B and we’re good to go. Stay away Mosquitos, goddamit! My grandfather yells out, "Marty, get me my paper!" This is no prissy scented candle, latte, spa session ice cream vanilla. Hell no. This is a toasted, charred, aged, tobacco store, leather-faced, yellow-tinted mustache vanilla. Aged, boxed and ready to give out some punches. This is vanilla in a beer I can dig. Man, this would be killer with a pipe and a Canadian club. Nice, full rich body, carrying light sweetness, dryly balanced by the tannic qualities of the bean skin and the roasted edge to the malt. A green leaf dapples the back end. Something special must have been done to the vanilla to get this particular, heavily pipe tobacco tone to the bean. They are either Madagascar or Mexico, and I’m leaning Mexico, but none of that fruity Tahitan sneaks in. Minerals and yeast edge catch the aerosols in the rising alcohol fumes to give it a fresh sense. Way out on the back draw, hops perk up a little bit for a fresh flower gumminess to give rest to the broad, swaying rustic old barn that this beer so embodies. Filtration might actually work here, giving a clean follow through. Could excell with some more fruity nuance, higher alcohol, and time. A beer even my curmudgeonly, dead grandfather could love. Thanks again Sean!

Great sweet, smoky flavor, but not "syrupy" at all. The vanilla flavor really carries this beer. Very good.