Vanilla Noir - Snickerdoodle
Prairie Artisan Ales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look: black with a thin mocca colored head

Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, bourbon

Flavor: Roasted malts, cookies, chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon. Bourbon is somewhat muted, mild. It is a bit sweet but it is great with fruits and desserts.

Body/Overall: Full bodied, heavy yet somewhat smooth

Poured moderately hard from a bottle into a snifter glass, slowly forming a bit of dark brown head that quickly faded. Deep black color, with just a bit of almost-sugary looking lacing, very unusual. Should have shaken the bottle a bit, left some sediment behind after the pour. Smell is a mix of cinnamon, sugar, and bourbon, definitely reminds me a of a bourbon dipped snickerdoodle (not that I've had that before). Taste is strong and pretty sweet, but really balances the bourbon, cinnamon/sugar snickerdoodle, and some vanilla verrrry well. None of the tastes seems to overpower the others, which is pretty impressive. Medium to thick bodied with minimal carbonation. A little bit of residual heat from the 14.4% ABV, but doesn't overpower. Super impressive and an awesome dessert stout that isn't sickly-sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From bottle. Pours opaque black with no head. Immediate aroma of bourbon, sweet malt, chocolate and almond notes.
Booze not as overwhelming on the palate as I expected but definitely the first note, molasses, roasted malt, burnt caramel and vanilla follow, finishing with an unpleasant bitter almond flavor.
Getting further into the glass, the impression of artificial flavoring increased. Disappointed as I had high expectations of this and there are too many good bourbon finished beers that are much cheaper than this one.

 

 

Pours out a inky impenetrable blackness. Barely a line of extremely dark brown foam forms.

Nose is subtle notes of bourbon and wood. I like the barrel aging not taking over. After is roasty malts, brown sugar, chocolate cake, and copious amounts of vanilla. This reminds me a little like Blessed by Anchorage, which is absolutely cool with me. It almost has that vanilla pastry or waffle cone thing going on.

Taste is a little different. Roasted malt shows up in force. Good. I was hoping this wouldn't end up being too sweet. It is certainly sweet but the roast adds some contrast. Bourbon and wood notes are still there in the background while vanilla is still the star of the show. The chocolate is a little less pronounced. There's something special about this one. It's subtle and complex. There are strong flavors here, but not the one's you would expect.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied and smooth. Mild to an almost medium carbonation. A flash of bubbles show up like waves on the shore. There and gone. Take another sip and repeat.

Prairie never really fails to impress. This one feels like an underrated champion compared to their other world class brews like Bourbon Paradise and Bomb! A unique quality to this one that doesn't necessarily scream it's presence. It reminded me of Blessed which made it very enjoyable for me.

 

Look: nearly opaque. Dash of mocha head with some oily non clingy lacing.
Smell: equal measures of vanilla, oak, bourbon.
Taste: never had a snickerdoodle but this gem tastes like vanilla cookies. Hint of bourbon that counters the sweetness nicely.

 

12oz bottle poured into a HotD snifter;

A: Jet black, opaque pour; fairly thick and viscous with a dark brown head that fizzles quickly and loudly away.

S: Stout-sweet, with a nose fairly full of vanilla, almond butter, snickerdoodle cookies, some mild baking spices, smoothed-out bourbon barrel, and chocolate. Not quite pastry-stout sweet, but pleasantly sweet.

T: Equally balanced and sweet, vanilla and delicate cinnamon, bourbon and chocolate, moderate roast and dark malt, soft nutty/cookie characteristics throughout.

MF: Fairly viscous and thick, subdued heat from the alcohol is still present, baking spices don't really bite, but rather complement, not cloying (to me) in its sweetness.

O: Overall I don't have a complaint with this beer, it was very very good, but not GREAT and not quite as good as I expected it to be.

 

 

 

 

alot of flavor is packed in this beer -chocolate and vanilla all the way thru

 

A: The beer is jet black in color and poured with essentially no head whatsoever.
S: Moderate aromas of Snickerdoodle cookies and vanilla are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell and is rather sweet; the vanilla seems to be a bit more prominent compared to the Snickerdoodle.
M: It feels medium- to full-bodied and somewhat smooth on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This makes for a nice dessert beer that is pleasant to sip. The alcohol is noticeable, but doesn't detract from the taste.

Serving type: bottle

 

 

10/24/20 bottle @ home

 

Prairie stouts are always welcome here! I should have a lawn sign made. 12 oz. bottle.

Big black stout. Roast drifts up off the surface, but the power of suggestion to my nose say “mostly cookie”. I like cookie.

Snickerdoodle Vanilla Noir says bourbon – my mouth says rye. Up-front barrel is boozy, rough in the throat, & yells “spicy” as I pass by…or maybe that’s the chai talking. Enough chocolate to satisfy my daily addiction needs, roast, deep sweetness from the malts & vanilla doing the cha-cha (or chai-chai). And a finish of hella chai stuff. Big & aggressive & thicker than a mask-denier’s head. I wouldn’t mind trying to take down two of these. It’d be like an extreme staying awake challenge.

This beer has it. The body, the weird, the barrel, the tastiness. Excellent bordering on elite. Please send more of your lineup to MN!

 

Bottle.

Tan head that fades. Black color. Oily.

A nice variation of vanilla noir. All the vanilla, sweetness, oak, and bourbon. The snickerdoodle complements the vanilla nicely and doesn’t overtake the beer.

Thick and full bodied. Warming, the abv shows. Fudgy.

L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a deep, dark, jet black color and a thick, opaque consistency. There was a quarter inch of foamy, tan-colored head that quickly dissipated. Not much lacing to speak of.

S: A sweet and enticing aroma of chocolate, booze, malt, vanilla, coffee, and cookies.

T: Tasted of decent bit of bourbon (and its accompanying barrel), a hint of vanilla (fleeting), a good amount of cookies, a lot of chocolate (sweet and rich), a little malt (present throughout, though subtle), and a bit of coffee (nice and warm). This is a complex, rich, and aggressive flavor. Delicious.

F: An average amount of carbonation with a silky smooth finish. Full-bodied.

O: Another excellent and well made Prairie stout. Drinkable.