Beer Geek Vanilla Shake
Mikkeller ApS

Shared can from Mikkeller San Diego, at Cardinal Mikkeller tasting. Pitch black colour, minimal tan head of poor retention. Sweetish aroma of malt sugar, vanilla and coffee. Very sweet flavour of vanilla and coffee, too sweet and one-dimensional for my taste.

 

Bottle. Likely about 5 or so years old. No head. Thick, oily black color.

Vanilla, fudge, cocoa, chocolate, and coffee. Roasted malts. Caramel. Earthy hops in the finish. Full bodied, thick.

Black with creamy and persistent brown head. Aroma: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, caramel and a hint of soy sauce that is a bit intrusive. On the palate there is chocolate and lots of vanilla. This sweetness is slightly tempered by coffee, roasting and a light bitter resinous note. Abv present in the drink and in the aftertaste. Massive and oily body and quite velvety. Low carbonation.

16oz can. Stamped canning date is '11/25/2019'. Something about 10 TailFeather following.
Black body, with tiny mahogany brown back lit edge. Consistent one skinny finger of darker tan head. Scattered tiny spots of lacing.
Aroma is mostly vanilla and chocolate, with a little bit of fudgy coffee.
Taste is a hit of vanilla and chocolate, followed by a big hit of coffee. The aftertaste is mostly the coffee. No bitterness.
Thicker mouth feel. Okay carbonation.
This beer delivers a sweet hit and then a balancing with the coffee. Coating in the mouth allows all flavors to express.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaaahhh, so much vanilla! Disappointed by the lack of coffee flavor, this is just an overwhelming amount of vanilla for my palate. I strongly prefer the barrel aged version which was stellar.

 

 

2017 bottle, drank 03.26.20

Fell pretty far below my expectations. When I took the cap off there was no pop suggesting that the carbonation had been released and the beer had gone bad, but when I poured it, there were definite signs of carbo. Just around the edges and some swirl in the center. Black body otherwise, and an oaty kinda dirty smell. The taste out of the fridge was oaty and roasty, no vanilla. As it warmed, I got a little alcohol, but not much considering the ABV, but still no vanilla. Overall, the first of the Beer Geeks I've tried and can't say I was impressed - I'll get another one eventually and drink it fresh to see if the age may have had something to do with it; cellaring could have had an effect, but it hasn't had an effect on others of similar ages.