Multnomah County Stout - Vanilla Bean
Culmination Brewing

Beautiful dark dark body that's almost black, but you can just make out the brown hues through the darkness. Fizzy yet substantial dark brown haed that doesn't melt away as quickly as the consistency would lead me to believe. No lacing though.

Nose is immediately big round buttery sweet bourbon. I don't think it's buttery as in diacetyl, but it's possible as there's a big butterscotch character to it. Some sweet vanilla that's both vanilla vanilla and bourbon vanilla but without the spicy heat of the bourbon. There's some milky chocolate as well, but the more I investigate, the more I'm leaning that maybe there is some diacetyl involved here as butterscotch is exactly what I'm getting a lot of. It still smells appropriate for what I am expecting out of the can, but I'm less convinced that it's intentional the more I mull it over.

Flavour is again a lot of vanilla from both the beans as well as the bourbon, some rich chocolate ribbon, and a decent amount of butterscotch. I now can't tell if that's just my mind being primed towards that and it's really just the vanilla and caramel interacting or if it really is that flavour, if that makes sense. The finish is certainly chocolate and a nice bitter chocolate espresso note with some definite bourbon spice and heat both. Less overwhelmingly sweet than I'd been worried, though it's definitely more sweet than bitter.

Creamy oily and medium to thin bodied, there's actually a surprisingly fizzy amount of carbonation as well.

I dig it honestly more than I expected to. I am still on the fence over whether I believe there may be some diacetyl presence or not, but even if there is, the butterscotch type impression that I'm getting is still enjoyable and is definitely more butterscotch than popcorn butter. Like I said, it could also just be the interaction of vanilla oak and caramel together that my brain is interpreting differently.
I am glad I'm splitting it with someone as I think I only need a half a can. The sweet still builds quite a bit even if it's not as overwhelming and is more well balanced in any given sip than I was expecting.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, lactose and light caramel and cocoa; vanilla forward. Flavor is semi-sweet dark toasted malt, vanilla, caramel and cocoa; light char developing into a vanilla and cocoa finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Very nice. I'm on the fence with vanilla stouts; like with the extract itself a little bit too much can be cloying and distracting. Although there is clear, quite authentic vanilla bean flavor here, it is well balanced with the light chocolate notes and well supported by the malt. Like the regular MCS, this has a somewhat milk stout profile to it, and that also melds well with the vanilla. I liked this as much as the standard version. Well done.