Plead The 5th - Vanilla Beans
Dark Horse Brewing Company

 

 

16 ounce crowler into snifter, filled on 7/11/2019. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, peppercorn, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, vanilla, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, peppercorn, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, peppery, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, light licorice/dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, peppercorn, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, vanilla, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with a fantastic hop/char bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Minimal warming alcohol for 11%. Overall this is an amazing flavored Russian imperial stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, vanilla, and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on with the mellowly bitter/charred/drying finish. Fantastically soft feel for the style, not overly bitter/charred. Super rich malt complexity, with nice vanilla presence; balancing earthy hops, and restrained fruity yeast. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering as expected. Not as much vanilla as expected, but the base beer is still amazing for the style. Love the base beer the most with 1+ years age, but this still hits the spot perfectly.