Three Floyds Vanilla Bean Barrel Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

Much Much better. Draft at the Great Taste at the posted time. You had to look at the little cardboard sign above in the tent Joel :)! Much the same as the regular version but the vanilla beans added a great counterbalance to the sweetness of the regular Dark Lord. Mouthfeel was a bit thicker on this one which I found enjoyable.

Great Taste of the Midwest 2008
Luckily I stumbled by (yeah by this time of the day, I probably was close to stumbling) at the right time. FFF did not let us know when they would be pouring this, not the classiest move IMO. But onto the beer. This was really rich, obviously vanilla, chocolate, and the complexity of regular DL present. Really really rich, and by this time of the day (late in the festival), my palate was getting shot from sampling a lot of Impy stouts. I’d love to try this with a fresh palate sometime. Good, but the timiing could have been better for me.

Tasted on 4/26/08 at DLD

This beer was black as night with no head at all. A very small, dark brown ring of foam lined the glass. This smells incredible, coffee and chocolate with a great vanilla smell taking over everything. The taste combined with the mouthfeel make this like an amazing chocolate and coffee milk shake with the right amount of vanilla to balance out the flavors from the regular dark lord. After sharing this sample and the oak aged dark lord with a friend I felt pretty good. An exceptional beer.

Name: Vanilla Bean Dark Lord
Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste

Appearance: black, wispy brown head,
Aroma: sweet chocolate and vanilla aroma with lots of bourbon,
Body: huge sticky body,
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, lots of vanilla sweetness, molasses, touch of roasted,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 10/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.4/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***4

Small sample on tap at Great Taste of the Midwest on 8-9-2008. Superb aroma of vanilla (duh) and cherry, like a cherry cordial chocolate candy. The smell is the best of both an imperial stout and a barley wine. Pours dark brown with sable head. Looks like melted chocolate. Delicious taste features vanilla and a lot of oak in addition to the world-class imperial stout taste of standard Dark Lord. Full body; thick. Soft and silky in the palate. I love this beer! It was the best of the fest and, yes, better (slightly) than regular Dark Lord. I just wish I had better notes on it, but it was late in the day after a lot of big beers. What can you do, other than dream of this great brew?

great taste. Black pour with a small tan head. Vanilla and chocolate dominated the aroma. Flavor was vanilla, coffee, toffee, caramel and maple syrup. Viscous, syrupy sweet. 3 oz was plenty but man was it good.

Didn’t put pen to paper all that much this year at the Taste, but I figured I’d be insane not to rate this one. Draft. Dark, melted milk chocolate, toasted vanilla bean, wet, and slightly charred wood on the nose. I thought the vanilla would be more prevalent, but the insane amount of chewy malt and wet wood overpowered most of the vanilla. Pours the standard DL looking thick, sticky, oily jet black with no head. Flavor is chock full of loads and loads of sticky, chewy, thick chocolate. Just a hint of vanilla. Heavy tannic wood presence. Just like drinking chocolate/vanilla pudding with a metallic and tannic wood finish.

GTMW ’08. Poured an opaque black color. The head was brown with an orange-ish tint. Attractive aroma of chocolate truffle, subdued bourbon, light soy, and a dash of vanilla. Sweet, full bodied, and oily. Rich melange of flavors including the likes of caramel sauce, bourbon, vanilla, and baking chocolate. Some graham cracker flavor came out in the finish. Delicious in small doses. Would make a nice aperitif. Although I might try it, a full pint glass would probably be a bit much for me.