Vanilla Cream Stout
Brew It Up!

 

Bought the bottle directly from the brewery and took it home. It pours a deep brown with a luscious dark mocha head. Retention and lace are excellent. This is the one attribute that is done properly.

Vanilla is not shy in the nose, that's for sure. Hidden behind are notes of coffee, chocolate, fleeting cinnamon, and an unfortunate phenolic harshness.

The flavor is an massive fortress of vanilla bean. There is so much in there it takes on a cloying bitterness that really makes it difficult to enjoy as it warms. The other flavors are quite overshadowed.

One is enough for this one.

Jet black with a two finger head. The head was wonderfully thick and tasted like mocha ice cream.

The vanilla aspect was center to the brew, obviously, but wasn't overbearing to the roasted malt flavoring. I'd almost want to say I could partly taste a vanilla cream soda. Sounds odd, but really worked well.

ABV was only 5.5%.

Very cool

I think this was the unanimous favorite of this location for the day. I bought a bottle of the vanilla oak aged cherry beer but haven't tried it yet, so this vanilla stout is still my favorite.

The beer pours a brown/black color that is opaque. There is some head but it doesn't last long. Some sticky lacing remains but the color is why I gave this a 4.0

The smell is mostly of vanilla. I've had a thing for vanilla in beer ever since January when I was at stone and tried their vanilla smoked porter. In any case this beer smells fairly basic with a ton of vanilla bean in there. The menu says that its "genuine Madagascar vanilla." Very sweet and inviting.

The flavor is heavy on the vanilla but is balanced by the roasted flavors of the stout. Also there is plenty of milk in the flavor, more noticeable than guiness even. Actually the menu warns that it contains lactose. Very nicely balanced and complex.

Medium/heavy body and drinkable. I really think that the milk and the vanilla do well together in a coffee flavored stout.