As it happens, my International Smattering of Beers included two American beers--one from the Elevator Brewing Company in Columbus, OH which I already drank and enjoyed, and this Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge Brewery in Breckenridge, CO. But the good news is while not every beer is technically international, the two domestic beers were quite tasty.I've never been much of a porter person, but after doing some reading about the style, I'm not really sure why. The ideal porter is malty, with dark and complex flavors including...chocolate! Alcohol plus chocolate! What's not to like?
The Vanilla Porter is nice and dark. Opaque dark, I mean, like a porter should be. I had to hold it up to a light just to see the rich brown color properly. It formed a tan head between 1/4 and 1/3 the size of the glass. On the first sniff, I notice coffee dominates the aroma. But there's definitely a sweetness in the air as well, due no doubt to the vanilla. I also detect some chocolate scent. This is looking promising.
Strangely, the flavor goes in almost opposite order. From the start, there's chocolate flavor even as I continue to drink. As I hold the beer in my mouth for a moment, I get a frothy vanilla sensation, and at the very back is a soft coffee flavor. The aftertaste blends chocolate and coffee, and if I really pay attention and look for it, I can taste a faint hinting of hops, just enough to take the edge off the sweetness. The label promised this would be "partakable", and it's very easy to partake of.
This would be a great beer to give to anyone who thinks that all dark beers are bitter or thick like Guinness. If there's such a thing as dessert beer, this is it.
No comments:
Post a Comment