Three Floyds Vanilla Bean Barrel Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

Draft... DLD ‘08... This beer rocks!... Pitch black ale with a small, creamy, light brown head. The aroma is a splendid intermingling of warm bourbon, luxurious vanilla, dark chocolate, light molasses and tobacco. Ultra full-bodied and velvety with a mineral oil mouthfeel and tingly carbonation. The flavor provides hearty gobs of sticky-sweet chocolate, vanilla and bourbon with a calming bitterness and woodsy undertone. The lengthy finish is rich, bittersweet and smooth. Even better than the original and oak barrel aged versions of Dark Lord... it’s the vanilla beans!... not the mirrors (whining little bitch)!

# 1300. 2008 Vanilla Bean Dark Lord on draft at the brewpub at 2009 Dark Lord Day. Pours a pitch black with a small light brown cream head. Beautiful aroma of vanilla on top of all of the Dark Lord aromas. Taste of creamy rich vanilla bean on top of all of the Dark Lord flavors. Simply amazing !!! I can honestly say that this was the most enjoyable beer I have had to date. Perfect all around !!!!

The closet thing to a perfect beer I have ever had. Flat out delicious in every possible way. Pours thick and heavy. So black that it stains the cup. No lacing. Aroma is yeaty and full of chcolate and vanilla, some bread, cherries, and candy as well. Richness everywhere, in the aroma and taste. This one is creamy as creamy can be, just incredibly smooth...thick, but never TOO thick, a perfect mouthfeel. Flavor is f’n delicious. Thick and chewey, with lots of roasted barley, vanilla, chocolate covered cherries, cocoa powder, oak, and yeast, also notes of coffee. Some dark fruit and syrup notes as well. Roasted malts make themselves known at times, but the vanilla and chocolate covered cherries pack the punch. Alcohol is present, but doesn’t feel like 14% whatsoever, but everything else is bold, yet smooth and totally drinkable. Flavors swirl in your mouth and are constantly changing, even the same mouthful will evolve before you swallow. The vanilla is always present, but only adds complexity and flavor, it never dominates. Very warming, but never at the expense of the brew itself. Everything strikes a great balance in getting the beer to feel and taste exactly as it should. This one is thick, oily, and bold. The vanilla beans are the PERFECT compliment to DL, and should be an actual ingredient. This beer is like drinking heaven.

WOW!!. This poured just as black of the regular DL of course with a real dark brown head. Aroma was chcolate, lots of vanilla, coffee molasses and dazrk fruits. Flavor is chocolate covered plums dipped in vanilla whiskey and washed down with a shot of coffee, just amazing, so many flavors going on at once, and of course like the regular, the most viscous beer ever.

My favorite beer that I have ever tasted. Just amazing. Pour is incredible black with tiny tiny brown head. Aroma is vanilla, coconut, brown sugar, bourbon, molasses and awesomeness. Flavor is true to nose and lingers forever. Wow! I love this beer.

On Tap at DLD. OMG, this is ice cream. Seriously. It’s absolutely amazing and it takes the original DL to whole ’nother level. A thick rich black pour with a brown head. This is the aroma I was hoping for from DL with the vanilla so much more prevalent. Super sweet vanilla flavor with chocolate, molasses, toffee, dark roasted malts and a fruit flavor - it all really opens up as the beer comes to room temperature. I could literally pour this over ice cream.

Handbottle, courtesy StFun. Pours pitch dark with some brownish highlights. Flat, but beautiful. Nose has tons of vanilla, chocolate and bourbon. Flavor is massive amounts of vanilla, sticky chocolate, molasses, big caramel and brown sugar. Simply AMAZING. Full-bodied and so balanced and SOOO good. RI-DIC-U-LOUS.

Just tried the Vanilla Oak Aged DL, and holy crap, i’ve never had a beer that i thought was worthy of a perfect rating until now. This has the consistency of molasses, the aroma of bourbon, vanilla, and the darkest malts. And tastes like the most viscous complex, and complete imperial stout i had ever exposed my tastebuds to. Perfect 5, my only regret is that they ran out before i could make it home and back with a few sanitized bottles and my bottle capper to save a few.