Landmark Vanilla Bean Brown Ale

Brewed by Flying Bison Brewing
Style: Brown Ale
Buffalo, New York USA

12oz. bottle. When I saw this on the shelves at Premier I was very excited, but after downing the pint I left rather disappointed. This beer poured a rich dark brown and produced a minimal /4 inch light tan head. The aroma is slightly sweet, roasted, and chard. There is no real flavor in this brew; definitely no vanilla. There is some earthiness and malts, but not much else. Overall, it is bland and very thin on substance.

I liked it! The big, tight, light brown head overflowed the glass. Dark brown, translucent. A mellow, roasted malt flavor was nicely balanced with the hops. Slightly more hearty than the English Brown Ale style. The vanilla was subtle, barely detectable. I found it smooth with a pleasant malt aftertaste.

March 6, 2007; 12 oz. bottle. Sixer purchased for $7.99 at the Nice & Easy convenience store in Sangerfield, NY. First I’ve laid eyes on this relatively-local brew. The vanilla factor is quite evident in the aroma, and can’t say I like it. Looks and tastes a bit like Coca-Cola (really!), but the finish falls flat. Have to wonder what the thinking was behind this one.

Dark brown body with a thin white head. Artificial vanilla aroma with some licorice and wintergreen notes. Light roast, mild vanilla and some unusal medicinal flavors combine to create a taste experience that isn’t too pleasant.

Bottle (12oz). This one scares me a bit - I don’t know why, but I see the word "vanilla" in 9/10 beers and .... yikes. Very dark cola-coloured pour with an average fizzy-creamy (somehow) light brown head. That’s a pretty decent aroma - medium roast sweet malt, hint of hop bitterness, vanilla of course - plenty of it - maybe a bit of cola syrup in there. Taste ... okay, here it sort of falls down - like vanilla extract mixed with soda fountain root beer syrup over a base of boring generic brown ale - sweet, cloying, a little harsh in the finish. Light yet sticky body, effervescent rather than lively, almost stinging mouthfeel, syrupy linger and aftertaste - not too good, but better than I expected - really seemed more like a root beer than a beer.

Nice deep brown color. small compact head. Sutle vanilla aroma. MIld vanilla flavor with some nuttiness. I could drink several of these

Brown pour with a moderate head, average lacing and retention. Aroma is vanilla, nuts, caramel, hint of hops. Medium bodied but overly acidic. That alone basically killed this. However, it also needs a better malt base. Finally, I feel it’s necessary to repeat how horribly acidic the finish is... it killed it. This idea has a lot of potential, but this came off like a really bad version of Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

Slight hazelnut coffee aroma drifts atop a frothy off-white head. Deep crimson/brown in color. Tastes like rootbeer or cream soda. Some vanilla flavor sits atop this caramel brown ale. Slight astringency at the finish.