Elemental Gorilla - Vanuatu Vanilla
Equilibrium Brewery
- From:
- Equilibrium Brewery
- New York, United States
- Style:
- Imperial Pastry Stout
- ABV:
- 15%
- Score:
- +2 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 4.57 | pDev: 5.25%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jul 12, 2025
- Added:
- Dec 30, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
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-
Using our own Vanilla Gorilla as the muse for this beer, we continued to build on the idea to focus on the basic Elements of a massive Imperial Stout: Barrel, cat-like patience, and focused adjuncts. The same giant base of Binary Elements was allowed to sit uninterrupted in Willet barrels for 18 months with the addition of Vanuatu vanilla beans. Grown on the southernmost island of the Vanuatu archipelago in the South Pacific, these wonderful and extremely rare vanilla planifolia beans give unique and strong notes of cookie dough and cocoa.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by hops_for_thought from New York
4.22/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
4.22/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a bottle (no date I could find - can’t recall release date, think Dec2020) into a small tasting glass
L: pours a very dark black brown, incredibly viscous, with a minimal dark brown head that builds toward the end of the pour and fades fairly quickly. Abv-appropriate legs, thick and brown
S: some seriously rich aroma here. Under baked chocolate cake, raw batter, huge punch of sweet but far from cloying vanilla. Some barrel, a bit of cinnamon spice. A hint of abv heat but not much
T: follows the nose fairly well, a slug of chocolate chocolate chip brownie batter with a drizzle of caramel and vanilla fudge. While certainly delicious I’d say it’s muddled - great flavor, no abv burn rather just some warmth, but I don’t get any complexity more one shot here you go. The vanilla emerges more toward the somewhat shot finish, which I like (vanilla, not the length of the finish). Certainly dessert sweet but not like the nose not cloying
F: it’s like drinking syrup. Heavy body, light+ carbonation, incredibly viscous, mouth coating
O: amazing aroma with a flavor that just falls a bit shot. Mouthfeel is incredible, would have liked a bit more depth to the swallow to call is world class
May 02, 2021L: pours a very dark black brown, incredibly viscous, with a minimal dark brown head that builds toward the end of the pour and fades fairly quickly. Abv-appropriate legs, thick and brown
S: some seriously rich aroma here. Under baked chocolate cake, raw batter, huge punch of sweet but far from cloying vanilla. Some barrel, a bit of cinnamon spice. A hint of abv heat but not much
T: follows the nose fairly well, a slug of chocolate chocolate chip brownie batter with a drizzle of caramel and vanilla fudge. While certainly delicious I’d say it’s muddled - great flavor, no abv burn rather just some warmth, but I don’t get any complexity more one shot here you go. The vanilla emerges more toward the somewhat shot finish, which I like (vanilla, not the length of the finish). Certainly dessert sweet but not like the nose not cloying
F: it’s like drinking syrup. Heavy body, light+ carbonation, incredibly viscous, mouth coating
O: amazing aroma with a flavor that just falls a bit shot. Mouthfeel is incredible, would have liked a bit more depth to the swallow to call is world class
Reviewed by StoutSnob40 from California
4.67/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.67/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Poured like straight up roof tar. I haven’t seen many beers pour this viscous. I honestly questioned how much body would react after drinking a liquid this black and sludgy, but that’s the way stouts should be!! When they say they used Vanuatu vanilla beans, I think they stormed the beach of this poor island, ransacked every orchid and vanilla farm, and threw all of their pillaged wares into the barrels. It is the most delicious, luscious vanilla aroma I have ever experienced from a beer. No extract aromas, just like splitting a vanilla bean and rubbing the caviar between your hands.
Flavors are incredibly rich, cookie dough, creme brûlée, vanilla waffle cone, and finishes with bitter, dark chocolate. Somehow doesn’t come across too sweet.
Mouthfeel is very full, dense, flat carbonation and leaves your lips sticky. Spectacular beer.
Mar 14, 2021Flavors are incredibly rich, cookie dough, creme brûlée, vanilla waffle cone, and finishes with bitter, dark chocolate. Somehow doesn’t come across too sweet.
Mouthfeel is very full, dense, flat carbonation and leaves your lips sticky. Spectacular beer.
Reviewed by OfficerKramitz from Pennsylvania
4.77/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.77/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
P: As deep and dark as pure motor oil. Definitely the thickest beer I’ve poured other than home brew
A: Caramelized sugar with extreme vanilla extract
T: Vanilla upfront. Very slight twinge of bourbon and barrel follows at the end, but as it warms the bourbon strengthens and makes this beer shine. A perfect sweet vanilla aftertaste
M: Thick as hell
O: Damn. This is great. Extremely smooth for the ABV. Tastes exactly how you think vanilla extract should.
Feb 08, 2021A: Caramelized sugar with extreme vanilla extract
T: Vanilla upfront. Very slight twinge of bourbon and barrel follows at the end, but as it warms the bourbon strengthens and makes this beer shine. A perfect sweet vanilla aftertaste
M: Thick as hell
O: Damn. This is great. Extremely smooth for the ABV. Tastes exactly how you think vanilla extract should.
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