Lion Tamer
Ravenna Brewing Co

Lovely pour that's that deep shade of brown that's just bordering on black, like molasses. Nice desaturated khaki head that swells a little bit before receding to a fringed ring and some isolated islands.

Nose takes more of a cue from the barrels than I was expecting. Bourbon spice leads in, with a bit of riesen candy chocolate and a touch of dark fruit, and yes, there's certainly some vanilla in there smoothing it all down. Bit of coffee bitterness on the back end to go with the bourbon coming back for the finish.

Flavour carries much more vanilla, and it shows up earlier in the profile. There's still a decent amount of barreling spice, and the finish carries a bit of sourness from the alcohol. But jumping back to earlier in the sip: There's a little more of that dark darker chocolate and a touch of prune and coffee bitterness. Maybe even some tobacco emerging out of that fruit/spice/sour/bitter combo.
The finish is very spicy from the barrels, and that lingers.

Overall, it's tasty, but very barrel heavy. That seems kind of en vogue these days, but it's not always my preference. The underlying porter seems tasty, though, and I do like vanilla, so there you have it.

Look: Pitch black. Three fingers of tan head with a slight pinkish tinge, with decent retention.

Smell: Baking spices, roast malt, mild vanilla, brown sugar, walnut.

Taste: Savory toasted malt, walnut, mild piney hop flavor and bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Full and smooth, with high carbonation.

Overall: A fine snipping beer, best enjoyed with a snifter in front of the fire.

25 oz bottle

Pours opaque black. Tan head dissipates to a bit of lacing.

Smells of brown sugar, toast, walnut, and bourbon.

Tastes of toast, walnut, caramel, oak, brown sugar, fig, leather, and bourbon.

Medium to full body, tingly carbonation on the tongue. Boozy numbing and warmth going down.

Very tasty strong porter. Drinks pretty slow. Good flavor and aroma. Would have again on occasion.

Small but dependable head. Nice black color. Delicious nose of coffee grounds. Taste is consistent with the nose. Tastes light though in reality a powerful 9%. Great flavor. Subtle vanilla. Slight oakiness.

draught
vanilla porter aged in bourbon barrels
Dark brown appearance with a hint of auburn on the eyes. Heavily roasted grain aroma, with bourbon along side. No discernable vanilla (very subtle addition). Some caramel presence with a good toasted grain flavor profile, that has a fair woody bite, with a touch of sweetness. Pleasant trailing off, roasty grain and bourbon finish.

 

 

 

Poured from a mini-growler into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to big patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla and light cocoa. Flavor is dark toasted malt with slight char, nice vanilla, hints of cocoa, coffee and wood; lightly nutty, especially in the middle of the taste. Medium bodied with light creaminess, nice mouth feel. Nice all round porter, with some of the best vanilla flavor I've had in this style. I often find the vanilla adds an odd taste when used too heavy-handed. Not the case here. The flavor is not that complex, with fairly mild chocolate notes, but the malt and vanilla are in balance and light nut and cocoa flavors linger after the taste. The ABV is well covered, although the flavors are somewhat subdued for this big a porter. Mellow, but tasty. There is some woody barrel character, but I'm not getting much bourbon, although this stands solid as a vanilla porter.