Three Floyds Vanilla Bean Barrel Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Onyx black body with a small tan head. In both aroma and taste, it’s everything you’ve come to expect from dose of Dark Lord, but now crammed to the brim with vanilla, though definitely moreso in the aroma than taste. Jaw-droppingly smooth body and an absolute joy to have enjoyed this well before noon. Helped to soothe the hectic nature of this year’s DLD. Hats off to you, Three Floyds.

Black with a tan head that does a decent job sticking around. Aroma is of vanilla, molasses, only a touch of bourbon, licorice, and caramel. Taste has plenty of vanilla in it, bourbon is hidden pretty well, some syrupy flavors, and dark fruit. Full bodied with light carbonation. I liked this better than the Oak Aged Dark Lord this year, seemed a lot smoother.

4-26-08 tap into plastic cup at DLD 08
Deep ebony thick black pour with no head. Smell is vanilla ice cream and oak and chocolate cake. I liked the Oak aged DL better without the vanilla, but there is less present obvious alcohol in this one (the vanilla takes it over). Thick creamy big palate. Overall, nice and bold but I am not the biggest fan of big vanilla flavor.

In short: A strange, very strange muddy mess. No real “In short” possible for this one.
How: 6oz sample at Dark-Lord-Day 2008
The look: Ugly muddy brown with not head
In long: A very weird beast. Vanilla over a dense fruit cake and some kind of milk chocolate concentrate create a slimy, very slimy mouthfeel. Alcohol is apparent. Fruity notes seemed to bring out a different fruit with every sip. Quite a bit of wood. I even got some Tia Maria flavours in there!! Very sweet. Carbonation is stale, almost non-existent. I didn’t recognize the regular Dark-Lord beer at all in this muddy mess. The beer came out as very simple. This is not a very good beer at all but it was so strange that I cannot resist giving it my “worth-drinking-again” above 3.0 rating. And with that non-existent carbonation and murky muddy brown body all I could think while drinking it was “Man, this is the ugliest and most lifeless thing I have ever seen”. And that’s coming from someone who was in Cleveland just a few days before.

Draft at DLD 08. Pours oil like black with a small tan head. The aroma is everything the original is and then some: sweet, chocolate, dark fruits, vanilla, oak, bourbon, and light coffee. The flavor is much of the same: chewy sweet malt, vanilla, dark fruits, chocolate, some roasted at times, and light coffee. Everything mentioned would be enough to classify this as an excellent beer, but for me the mouthfeel pushes it into another category. This is sooooo smooth and creamy I could kick back and savor this all day (if it weren’t 14%). It is easy to forget about the alcohol with this one.

Wow, what a great beer. Jon and Kevin liked it too. Pours thick black with no head. Pretty much flat, but who need carbonation with an awesome strong beer like this. The vanilla is subtle at first, but then much stronger as you taste it. It is a really wonderful addition to an already wonderful beer. Very sweet. Lots of molasses and brown sugar in the taste. Very, very smooth and delicious. I don’t notice any bourbon or brandy. Delicious.

Awesome brew, pours blackish brown with not much of a head. Drank with bikesandbeer and wetherel and my gf cyn. Nose is full of vanilla and chocolate and light coffee and fruit. Taste is really pretty damn smooth, really really nice vanilla and creamy with lots of complexity. Its been a long time since I’ve head regular DL, but this is pretty ridiculously solid. The vanilla is a nice touch, and it is really a pretty decadent affair.

Poured into a plastic cup at FFF DLD 08. This beer is jet black and has the aroma of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and some dark fruit. The flavor is really rich and creamy and the sweetness helps to mask some of the etoh. I preferred the bourbon DL.