Double Black - Barrel-Aged Vanilla
Bent Paddle Brewing Co.

10oz pour at Bent Paddle. Poured an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left thin rings of lace. It smelled of vanilla, bourbon, oak, chocolate and coffee. Strong, sweet vanilla with chocolate, oak, bourbon and toffee.

 

 

 

 

 

Barrel Aged Vanilla Double Black pours black, with a small, tan head. The aroma is huge, with lots of vanilla and vanilla-filled bourbon. THe flavor is filled with bourbon, lots of vanilla, and a bit sweeter. Good body and feel. Overall, big, bold vanilla-filled stout.

Pours out of the can a midnight black with a finger of tan head with good retention. Smells of cocoa, coffee, bourbon, and vanilla. Tastes initially a little boozy, but then melts away and you're left with all the other aforementioned notes dancing on your pallette. I think the vanilla was a good addition to the original version of the brew. Not overly carbonated leaving a nice rich mouthfeel that I love with this style. Really complex and fun to drink.

Pitch black pouring, with a 1 finger tan head. The bubbles in the head seem slightly smaller than the last variant. The retention is decent, and there's some lacing on the glass.
The aroma is decent with vanilla, and there's hints of chocolate as well.
The flavor is vanilla, and it lingers throughout in varying degrees. There's a roasted malt flavor that kicks in from the base beer. Dark chocolate. But, boy, there's a lot of vanilla here.
The body is decent, maybe a bit thinner than the others in the pack - but expected. There's a bit of burn from the alcohol, and maybe the vanilla.
This is an interesting take on the base beer. I like it, though, I'm not sure it should have been packaged with the Double Shot Double Black 4 pack. It probably should have gotten it's own pack.

12oz can. Unreadable canning date stamp on can bottom.
Black colored body, with mahogany back lit edge. One finger of tan head, which smooths out to a thin cap and ring. Leaves behind some short strings of lacing.
Aroma is roasted malts, bourbon barrel, oak and vanilla.
Taste is roasted malts soaked in bourbon, with chocolate, oak, and vanilla flavors. Sweet chocolate and vanilla in the aftertaste.
Thicker mouth feel. Creamy texture. Supportive carbonation.
The vanilla provides sweetness to a bourbon soaked coffee fudge. Higher ABV% is well hidden, with some bourbon vapors throughout. Flavors in the aftertaste are best because of the fudgy chocolate.

The weakest of the 2022 Double Blacks. The extra vanilla makes it taste sweeter with the lack of coffee to give it some balance. Cloying and it even tastes hotter with a lack of malt influence.

Part of the 2022 mix pack. I honestly prefer the base to this. This is sweeter and the vanilla tastes a bit artificial. Coffee isn’t in your face as much either. Nice roast, coffee, fudge. Barrel/bourbon is a bit fainter than the base. Solid offering, but the 2022 base is hitting the spot.