Aspen Meadow Vanilla Cream Stout
Cold Spring Brewing Co.

Wow. I didn't know what I was getting into when I plunked down 7.49 for a clearance 12 pack of this.

I had never had a stout before and I hope this isn't a representative sample.

smells fine, but nothing like beer. pure vanilla.

extreme vanilla flavor. pretty sweet. doesn't taste anything like beer. what is this stuff? kind of like cream soda, I guess. a little bit nutty. still I am almost scared to drink this. fear of the unknown. I gave away the rest of my 12 pack to my neighbor who will drink anything.

Holy crap, what was I thinking? I was hoping for a close friend of Sleemans and I got the enemy. The color and smell were fine. Looked like a light varnished oak. Smell is like vanilla, but mostly extract and hazelnut, much like that of a rootbeer float or cream soda gone bad. Unfortunately it tasted closer to a flat soda then a resemblance of a beer. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish here but who ever sampled it and then OKed it for production needs a big lesson. A close example of what it should taste like see reviews for Stoney Creek Vanilla Porter brewed in Detroit, Mich.
Next time you're in a liquor store and you see this stuff, do the store a favor and tell them to put it on the shelf with the soda pop. Or better yet have em burn it.

Dark ruby with rapidly ascending and descending foam.
Strange sweetness on the nose. Vaguely vanilla but seemingly more artifical hazelnut extract. No malt profile. Soapy to boot.
Taste profile falls closely in line with cream soda -- very shitty cream soda. Forced vanilla ripples through this one, and does not mingle kindly with the dish soap-infused middle. Maybe....maybe some black malts. No hops at all. Fake, fraudulent , and false.
Thin bodied with adhesive sugar qualities.
This, honestly, is more of a malternative than a beer. Even in that respect, it is poorer than most.

Brewed under the "Aspen Meadow Beer Co." label by Gluek, this beer smacks of a flavor contrived for those that like flavored coffee. This really is not a stout, more of a sweet brown ale with vanilla flavoring added. The color is dark brown with a head the quickly fades. The aroma is sweet malt with vanilla flavoring, same with the taste. All in all I was not very impressed with this beer at all -- well, the label is kind of nice.....

This a beer that tastes somewhat artificial. Seems like they took an average (at best) cream stout and dumped in way too much vanilla and hazelnut extract. The beer is too sweet and a bit cloying. Not recommended.