Thomas Creek Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale

Brewed by Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: Cream Ale
Greenville, South Carolina USA

via trade with decaturstevo - Pours a hazy light golden color with a faint head. Has a grassy, bready aroma. Tastes like a yeasty Belgium with some bitterness at the end. Can’t taste or smell any vanilla. Light to Medium body. Nothing special, but drinkable. Thanks Steve.

Upon opening the bottle and smelling it I smelled sulphur I thought. Poured it smelled sulfur no more. In the glass it had a nice fruity malty aroma. Poured just a slight hazed golden yellow. Slightly fizzy palate with a different but decent flavor as it warmed close to the end I could detect some vanilla. Siight bitter at the end the best beer so far that I’ve tried by this brewery. Reminds me of an APA’s skinny underdeveloped twin. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I like this beer. I hate to keep harping on it but my homebrew doesn’t have this much sediment. I just left about 1oz in the bottom of the bottle.

Slightly hazy and bright glowing yellow-gold in color with a creamy, mossy, and Belgian-esque white head. Aroma confounds with lemon pepper, cloves, sourdough, banana husks, starchy vanilla butter cream and white chocolate fudge chips. Flavor strikes like a bad Belgian experiment. Brisk lemon sweetening is minimally mellowed by vanilla frosting on corn chex. Harsh burlap and pils malt move it even further from center. Bitter sourdough crust can’t be shaken. Brash, biting, spritsy and careless execution throughout the mouth feel. Way too many English hops and pils malt subs for what should be on the lower end of the crystal malt spectrum. Herbal bread heels regrettably close with rosemary sourdough and diluted white chocolate chips. This brewery’s got one more chance.

Bottle. Hazy golden w/ vanilla and sweet malt nose. A little too fizzy, but def. refreshing. A nice summer beer, and I can’t wait to try this w/ the dopplebock, thanx to whoever recomended that... sounds amazing!

12oz bottle acquired in trade with Suttree (thanks!). Poured a medium and slightly hazy golden color with a smaller sized white head. Aromas were hard to pick out and were all on the faint side. I eventually could get very light vanilla and some graininess. Tastes of vanilla (a lot stronger than the aroma) and sweet malts. Fizzy and lively body.

Thanks to hopdog. Pours a light hazy golden with a small white bubbly head. Aroma of corn, vanilla and grass. Flavor of vanilla, Cheerios, actually lots of vanilla.

2005 bottle from suttree, thanks a million man! Consumed on 12/1/05. Seems like a good enough holiday beer. Pours a mix between pencil yellow and white-gold, with some light tangerine hues and a very foamy head consisting of large bubbles. Plenty of carbonation, and as the head recedes to a light cover and ring, there is light, spotty lacing. Aroma gives away no vanilla, but plenty of lemon icing, angel food cake, touches of bitterness and a light creamy sweetness, not quite as distinct as honey. Flavor begins with the vanilla quite apparent, though tastefully done. Just a mildly sweet note mixed in with creamy, pale malt-like sugariness, moderate, unobtrusive carbonation and a fair amount of lemon-like notes. Light bitterness builds on the palate, not sure if it is hop bitterness or not. Reminds me of vanilla-cake, but there is enough barley character to stand up to it. Refreshing, and the vanilla never becomes a problem. The only problem I found was a strange, not quite medicinal, but perhaps plasticy quality on the very finish. Not too apparent or disconcerting, but enough to make me question the type of vanilla used. Medium-light body, but no significant thinning. Lightly watery, touch of creaminess in the texture.

Bottle. Poured a golden color with a slight haze to it. Rocky white head that mostly lasted and left light lacing. Very faint aroma of vanilla that could have been missed if you don’t pay attention. The flavor is vanilla, of course, like a cream soda, with some light hops. Light bodied with a slightly creamy body. Still not the best, but better than other vanilla creams I’ve had.