Imperial Smells Like Bean Spirit - Vanilla
Mikerphone Brewing

Pours deep black. Aroma is intensely coffee, chocolate & vanilla. Taste follows aroma -- strong coffee, vanilla flavors with supporting chocolate and maple. Full mouthfeel.

Look - black and thick with great tan rimming
Smell and taste - roasty malts and more roasty malts with some coffee and a nice vanilla sweetness
Feel - full body lighter carb
Overall - solid no ba vanilla stout. lots of malts

16 ounce can, no dating that I noticed on it. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. Aroma is nice and very sweet, the brew smells like maple, vanilla, coffee, caramel, chocolate and some molasses. For the most part the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some burnt/charred malt, dark bread and brown sugar flavors. It's mostly sweet tasting, but not overpoweringly so and not as sweet tasting as I was expecting it to be after smelling this brew. Maple stands out in both the aroma and taste, vanilla is noticeable but not very strong. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit rich with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this one a lot, recommend this one especially if you like sweeter tasting and/or maple imperial stouts!

 

 

 

I had my first beer from Mikerphone a few weeks back and I was very underwhelmed. It was a very bland pastry Sour, so I’m hoping this pastry Stout doesn’t go the bland route too. Let’s crack it open and find out

Pours completely pitch black with 2 fingers of frothy dark brown head that slowly fades to a cap and leaves minimal lacing

Holy shit, this is a maple bomb in the nose in the best way. I’m picking up on aromas of maple syrup, dark roast coffee, brown sugar, burnt caramel, vanilla bean, chocolate fudge, raisin, light cinnamon, and black cherry

It’s not nearly as intense in taste, focusing more on the bitter coffee as opposed to the sweet maple but I still dig it. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting dark roast coffee, burnt toast, brown sugar, molasses, burnt caramel, maple syrup, cacao nib, black cherry, and light vanilla. The swallow brings notes of acrid coffee, cacao nib, molasses, burnt toast, vanilla bean, burnt sugar, raisin, light maple syrup, and vanilla

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes a tad sticky but the bitterness dries it out

There’s a lot of different vibes going on in this one, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the first beer I had from them, pretty great actually

 

 

 

05/23/24 can @ home

 

 

 

Had on tap. Pitch black body with two fingers of dark brown foam. The vanilla brings the maple and chocolate out more in both the smell and taste in comparison to the orignal. Coffee and dark malt still present but more in a complimentary role. Smell is fuller. Feel has good balance of roasted bitterness and silky smooth sweetness, good maltwork, decently thick. Nice variant

 

The vanilla here is minimal and maybe plays a role in smoothing out the sharply sweet, big smoky maple flavor, and adds a touch of additional pastry decadence, but it's otherwise very similar to regular ISLBS. I'm surprised it doesn't make it any sweeter, but it's still sweet af.