Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Coldsmoke
KettleHouse Brewing Co. (Southside Taproom)

Served on tap in a snifter
Appearance – The beer is served a deep-deep brown, nearly black color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head has a decent level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave a little bit of streaky lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – Wow!! The aroma is huge of a very sweet and robust vanilla bean smell. There are some very nice cocoa aromas that follow with a decent hit of caramel as well. Along with these smells comes some very light oak and a touch of toast. Overall the aroma is wonderfully sweet and vanilla laden. Delicious smelling.
Taste- The taste begins with a roasted malt flavor that has notes of cocoa and caramel as well as a very big showing of some sweeter vanilla bean flavors. These flavors meld rather well and are soon joined by some light woody and oaky tastes as well as a lighter bit of boozy alcohol. While the alcohol is lighter upfront, it really ramps up as the taste moves forward, getting hotter and hotter as the taste advances. Toward the end there is a little increase in the sweetness due to some caramel and sweet vanilla, leaving one in the end with a sweet and rather warming taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – the body of the brew is a bit on the lighter side for a wee heavy of its strength and abv, with a carbonation level that is low. The low carbonation is fantastic for the dark, sweet, and boozy flavors of the brew. A little thicker body would have been slightly better for the style and tastes, but all in all it did make it slightly easy to drink and calmed some of the boozy tastes.
Overall – A nice vanilla sweet and slightly boozy brew overall, with an easy drinking feel. Robust, but not too overwhelming and rather warming overall.