Chocolate Vanilla Oak
HUDL Brewing Company

their vanilla cream ale on some special chocolate, really cool beer, love it being only 6% abv, and even though there is a barrel aged version apparently, the beer doesnt need it. this is oaked without being in whiskey i reckon, maybe spirals or something, but there isnt whiskey character in this, and i dont miss it. the vanilla is bold in aroma and flavor, well ahead of any chocolate element. brassy colored beer with good clarity from the tap and a short white head. it smells like an extract, intense, and not quite as pure as the actual beans, like it seems flavored, a little forced, but the chocolate part is cool, sweet yes, and the vanilla accentuates that as does the oak, which in its turn accentuates the vanilla to me, a honey thing from the grain is complimentary, the wood is in the back, its desserty but appealing, who doesnt love vanilla and chocolate together? the flavor follows the nose, sugary start to finish and vanilla driven, i should have tried the version without chocolate to compare, but the chocolate is there, dark and bitter a little bit, but the sweetness overtakes it. these are pleasant and compatible flavors, no doubt, but the whole thing presents as a little bit overdone, even if the ingredients are quality and well incorporated, like either its too much or the base beer is too minimal to hold it all up, but i am leaning towards the overdosed theory, as this does feel a little heavy with the residual sugar and the relative lack of carbonation, and true cream ale character is minimal. oak is subtle but adds some weight too. good, but desserty and a one and done kind of thing.