Vanilla Porter
Freedom's Edge Brewing Co.

im just a sucker for vanilla, so maybe a little partial to this one, but i thought it was a great use of it in a porter that has a very good base beer as its foundation. matte finished brown color, darker than many, without much light coming in and with some real thickness. the vanilla is the first (and really only) thing i can smell, its strong and fresh and real and good. the porter is there in the flavor through, rich dark grain without the usual bitterness of a real deep roast. its got a coffee sort of flavor to it, black and strong, but there is a sweetness with the vanilla in the finish that overcomes that. tons of vanilla there after the swallow, almost overdone, and probably is to some, but to me its yummy. all the sweetness though is unnecessary, and realizing how low alcohol this is, i think maybe it could have used a little more time in the fermenter, just to clean that up 20 or 30% would make this world class. as it is, i like all the body and the general smoothness of the whole thing. for the true vanilla lover, this is a perfect selection.