Landmark Vanilla Bean Brown Ale

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

Bottle. Pours brown with a billowing beige head. Malty sweet aroma with a touch of vanilla. The flavor has a more pronounced roasted and chocolate notes, with vanilla and a slight metallic edge. Not bad.

12 fl. oz. bottle from BOTW (Rochester), served at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. AU29.08.

App.: Clear, deep ruby with a rim of light tan. Aroma: Some brown sugar and molasses, dark dried fruits, a bit of vanilla, light milk chocolate, rich, warm and inviting. Palate: Medium-light body and fairly soft carbonation. Flav.: More vanilla than the nose, light milk chocolate, a touch nutty, some brown sugar; dry, basically no bitterness with a rather abrupt, weak finish.

Great concept, weak execution.

(bottle - 12 oz) Very dark ruby red, almost brown pour, with a very thin tan head that leaves quickly. Aroma is a light mixture of vanilla, mocha, hazelnut, and brown sugar. Flavor is a lot of vanilla with some roasted malts and a very bitter coffee finish. Almost tastes like a root beer float. Very thin and in dire need of more flavor.

Poured a dark amber color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla extract, caramel malts, light toast, and a bit of earth as well. Taste of caramel malts, light nuts, vanilla, brown sugar, and that’s about it... Regular, nothing special.

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.

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.

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.

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.