Vanilla Porter
Founders Brewing Company

 

 

A forgotten morning, a sun rise over an unneven terrance fresh with morning rain.

This drink is a creamy irish coffee, a breakfast with relaxing sweetness and coffee bitterness. With gorgeous brown color and no off flavors, it has decided to be a porter in the most classical sense. It is not revolutionary it’s just great.

Copenhagen 2/3 2024. 35,5 cl can from Meny, Borups Allé, Frb. F. White can with the name of the beer in red and Founders logo. Promises me Subtle Coffee Notes and Sweet Vanilla Aromas.

Pours opaque dark brown with a big light beige head Settles as thin, patchy layer of foam unable of covering the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is intense with a sweet, roasted and sugar odor mingling with an overwhelming scent of vanilla essence, Sweet toffee and brown sugar. Artificial vanilla.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, oily, soft, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is fairly intense with a strong sweetness followed by a moderately strong sourish bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet with a bitter undertone. Lingers for a while. Finish is a bit dry.

A bit heavy on the Vanilla flavoring. But they did warn me.

 

 

 

This beer pours a very dark, almost opaque, reddish black color with a significant caramel colored head. The aroma is overwhelming sweet vanilla. The taste, while very pleasant, is most like that of candy than that of a porter beer. There are only two flavors that detect: vanilla and chocolate. It is quite sweet.

From a 12oz can. Canned on 08/23/2024

This beer is a pitch black pouring beer. There's no way any light could shine through. There's a thick 3 finger tan colored head that has great retention to it. Lots of great sticky lacing on the glass.
The nose has a great vanilla aroma. I also get notes of chocolate and caramel that back up the vanilla.
The vanilla is what hits my taste buds first, and it it the main flavor. There's notes of chocolate and caramel that hit on the backside. The chocolate seems more dark than sweet with hints of coffee. There's a hit of bitterness on the finish.
The body is smooth and full feeling. The bitterness does linger.
Tasty beer overall. Delicious!

 

Pours black with a two-finger tan head.

Off the pour, the aroma is all vanilla and chocolate, like some American milk chocolate bars. As it warms, it's still just vanilla and chocolate.

Thankfully there is more nuanced flavor, but not too much. It starts with vanilla and milk chocolate, with some hints of cocoa. Some roast bitterness emerges in the middle of the sip along with black bread. Nearing the finish, roast coffee joins the party, providing more bitterness to offset the vanilla and chocolate which are prevelant throughout, and keeps this from being cloying.

Medium bodied with lowish and fine carb. Really easy to drink.

Overall, not bad for what it is, but doesn't stand up to the robust porter designation and is a shadow of their non-flavored porter.

 

Poured into a wide mouth grip shape goblet: color is dark brown, head is light tan with fine bubbles, head presents one finger thick.

Smell is vanilla, roasted malt, toast, chocolate, little hops.

Taste is more vanilla, light roast, chocolate, toast, herbal hops; strong vanilla.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, low/moderate bitterness.

Overall a brew that leans to much on the flavor additive - vanilla is strong and over powers the backing porter base.

 

 

 

 

12 oz can poured into a snifter.

A: Black pour, two fingers of beige head retain very well. Thin collars of lacing appear as the liquid drains.

S: cola, coffee, and roast all mingling on the nose. These aromas are rather clenched when the beer is cold, but begin to open up with time and warmth. Strong pull of vanilla extract is dominant. Perhaps a very mild green and oily hop aroma.

T: Lots of sooty, acrid roast up front. Woody and smokey, very bitter dark chocolate, French roast coffee. Very green and oily hop bitterness, mildly steely. Overall bitterness level goes a bit stiff. Hint of cola. Brush of alcohol. Vanilla extract flavor comes out on the back end and rides into the finish with a lot of hop bitterness.

M: Medium-full body. Deep sense of creaminess, almost goes a little bit slick but stops short. Some clamping Hop astringency. Carbonation is pretty stiff with an acidic bite. It feels a little over carbed.

O: I'm not feeling this one. There's a lot of oily and distracting hop bitterness, and the vanilla just tastes like straight-up extract, down to the alcohol base. It doesn't meld well, and sticks out like a sore thumb. As mentioned, it also feels aggressively carbonated. It's just a bit brash all around, and not the most drinkable thing.