Matryoshka (Vanilla)
Fort George Brewery + Public House

Bottle at share. Inky black pour, thin beige head. Aroma hits hard with plenty of bourbon barrel, along with vanilla, very sweet. Taste brings the roasty, chocolaty malts, but layered under the vanilla and boozy flavors. Slick, sticky, strong.

 

Appearance -From the wax sealed bottle, the beer poured black in color with little visible carbonation or head.

Smell - The nose had notes of char, dark malts, and fluffy vanilla. The overall profile was not overly sweet.

Taste - The profile represented a Russian Imperial Stout well, with notes of char, roasted malts, and fruit leather. The vanilla had a bit of trouble overcoming those foes. While vanilla was noticeable, it was more sweet than Earthy. The profile yielded to a dry cookie backbone and a chocolate bourbon finish.

Mouthfeel - For the style, it did not have the tarry thickness I seek. It was reasonably thick.

Overall - This was a pretty solid Russian Imperial Stout.

Look - black and thick with a nice tan head and lacing
Smell - lots of vanilla and barrel
Taste - so much vanilla and nice barrel
Feel - medium full body with a lighter carb
Overall - great ba stout if you love vanilla

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a half finger dark khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, mild bourbon and milk chocolate. Flavor is dark toasted malt, vanilla, bourbon, a touch of oak and milk chocolate. Lingering vanilla, chocolate and bourbon finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Another winner from Fort George. I've already raved about the base BA Matryoshka and although vanilla is not the top of my list of flavor adjuncts in stouts, this one is quite winning. Both the aroma and taste have clear character of French vanilla in contrast with the vanilla-like flavor often associated with oak barrels and even some vanilla stouts. Very authentic tasting. Paired with base chocolate and bourbon, this is a real treat. Very impressed with how this turned out this year.

The head on this one fades fast and the body could have been weightier, but the aroma was delectable. This brew was waaaay Vanilla, and way delicious.

 

 

L: pours see through dark brown but black in the glass with a half finger of light brown head that fades fast
S: huge sweet vanilla icing jumps out of the glass, then some nice barrel notes.
T: big vanilla throughout and into a long finish. In the middle the barrel notes show up albeit not big barrel.
F: medium thickness and smooth. I wish it was thicker and more coating