Coconut Vanilla Java Porter (VJP)
Atwater Brewery

 

 

I love the VJP , and I love the taste Coconut. Perfect combination.

smells of coconut and vanilla - get the same in the taste - malty - some of their other beers are better

 

Pours black with a hearty two fingers of off-white foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is toasted coconut that just leaps out from the very edge of the glass. Vanilla bean joins toasted coconut within the initial spearheaded aroma. Coffee is mild and moderately bold. Toasty, roasty and caramely malts fit in behind, with coconut and vanilla bean forming the clear majority of the nose. Flavor profile is roasty, toasty, caramely, earthy, bready malts with toasted coconut, sugary vanilla bean, roasty coffee (bold and flat, like a cold brew), and light molasses. It doesn't carry much sweetness, instead allowing the fleshy coconut and mildly bitter coffee to form the bulk of the flavor profile. Mouth feel is a touch thin with a medium-thin consistency. It develops to a more lightly creamy (think 1% milk) with a medium thickness as the beer warms. Overall, heavy coconut and moderately heavy vanilla beans - which is to be expected - with a mild porter and some coffee underneath.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 12oz bottle.

 

 

It's amazing what the addition of coconut does to Vanilla Java porter. Vanilla java on its own is nice, but the flavor of toasted coconut flakes rolls around the base ale so wonderfully it's hard to go back to plain ol' VJP now.

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottle in 4/2018. Pours crystal clear very dark brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, coconut, nutty medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted brown bread, light herbal/pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, coconut, vanilla, coffee, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big milk chocolate, cocoa, coconut, nutty medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted brown bread, light herbal/pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/spicy hop and roasted bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, coconut, nutty medium roast coffee, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toasted brown bread, light herbal/pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coconut, vanilla, coffee, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great roast/hop bitter/sweet balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/roast bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/silky/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is a delicious flavored English porter! All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, coconut, vanilla, coffee, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mildly bitter/drying finish. Very flavorful for the low ABV. Awesome balance of base beer and coconut flavoring, with nothing being overwhelming. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.