2 Tone Vanilla Porter (Heavy Rotation Series No. 07)
Starr Hill Brewery

 

 

 

Extraordinary in every sense of the word. Best selection out of the Winter Variety Sampler. The one I'm drinking now as I write this I saved in the fridge since Xmas.

 

From the neck in blue ink: "PKG ON 12/17/19E"

Appearance: The beer has a black body with a hint of dark brown as light catches the edges. The head is a khaki color, is medium-sized, and fluffy. It has good head retention and lacing.

Aroma: There is a light burnt caramel aroma.

Taste: There is a light burnt caramel flavor up front. In the middle it has a bit of bitter tasting baker's chocolate, then it ends with a light vanilla bean aftertaste. A gentle vanilla flavor lingers on the palate.

Mouthfeel: It has a medium-light body with a slightly sharp carbonation.

Overall: It's a pretty good vanilla porter. The vanilla is really mellow but it tastes like vanilla bean rather than artificial vanilla. The dominant flavor here is the bitter carbon flavor as if from burnt sugar. I could drink it from time to time but it's not likely something I would recommend for or against.

 

Nice medium mouth feel. Dark amber color with hint of smoke and roasted malts. Would drink again

 

12 ounce bottle poured into a tulip glass.

L---Opaque brown. An aggressive pour led to a middling head. Head had minmal retention before fading to a cap. Pretty good lacing.

S---Getting primarily coffee, no real vanilla to note. Roasted malts.

T---Oh, there's the vanilla. It's still secondary to the coffee, but it's clearly there. The roasted malts follow through from the nose. Little bit of bitter chocolate.

F---Smooth & creamy. Ok carbonation.

Exceptional vanilla porter. Just right on hint of vanilla

 

Pitch black and opaque in appearance with a 1 1/2 finger tan and quickly receding head.

Aroma of offee/burnt malt backed by vanilla.

Taste is pretty much the same. Nice bitter malts. A bit milky.

Light to moderate carbonation and rather creamy. Medium full in body.

I really liked this beer. It seemed simple at first, but it grew on me. It's full flavored and well rounded.

I think this is probably the best porter I've had, but I'm not to crazy about the style and I usually prefer stouts as a dark beer. The body was what stood out, not watery like some others are. The flavors did not come off as burnt like some porters do.

 

 

Is it the winter chill, the seemingly endless stretch of days off or some combination thereof that has me delving deeply into Porters & Stouts of late? Perhaps it is some other cause, but it is all keeping me busy, at any rate.

From the bottle: "Special dark roasted malts unite robust flavors of espresso and bittersweet chocolate with sweet vanilla bean for waves of rich smoothness."

I have to admit to an affinity for an aggro pour after Pop!ping the cap on a dark beer since it often leads to a pseudo-cascade. That was definitely the case here as it formed two-plus fingers of dense, rocky, foamy, deep-tan/light-brown head with very good retention. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose smelled really rich and although I may have said "coffee" in lieu of "espresso", I definitely got bittersweet chocolate. My only hope is that the vanilla is not too overwhelming as I begin to drink it. For me, bitter = better. Mouthfeel was big & full, not quite creamy, but remarkable in a Porter. The taste was not as bitter & edgy as the nose had allowed me to hope, but neither was it so sweet as to be off-putting. I didn't really get the vanilla, per se, but it was obvious that something was rounding the edges on the espresso/coffee and bittersweet chocolate which remained prevalent. I was also impressed by the sticky lacing that was beginning to appear as I drank through this one. Finish was dry, slightly bitter, but right in my wheelhouse. YMMV.

 

 

I was drunk as a poet on payday when I tried it. Didn’t really find the vanilla, or the carbonation. That being said, Starr Hill doesn’t make any bad beers, some are just better than others. This is an other.