Three Floyds Vanilla Bean Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter

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200th rating that should have been completed ages ago. Rating is too much work. Anyway, this treat was courtesy of adrian910ss. Pours a thick syrupy, muddy brown colour. Aroma of vanilla, dark fruits, and tootsie rolls. Flavour of bourbon, coffee, vanilla, dark fruits, malt, and a hint of bitter chocolate. Lovely stuff.

A VIP brought this out from the Tap room for us. This was powerful and potent and GOOD. Looked like oil in the glass. I was surprised because it didn’t seem heavy, just heavenly amounts of coffee, bourbon and vanilla.

I had this beer on tap at Dark Lord Day. Wow, this beer was freaking fantastic! It was so smooth, so drinkable, and so very tasty! Poured a pitch black color, just like it’s base beer. Thick like oil, with not much of a head to note, but the alcohol sticks to the side of the glass. Enjoyed this quite a bit, certainly better than the times I’ve had the base beer. This isn’t to say that DL is bad, far from it, but that the vanilla added quite a bit to this. A must for any trip to DLD.

So its been a while since I actually had this (full disclosure) although the memory is fairly clear given the strength of this beer 0 DLD 08. Pint in a plastic glass at darklord day. Dark thick black pour with a ruby tinge and a brown head. I had this one after the oak aged and it was much better - the vanilla cut the booze and oak so that at least initially the beer had a great aroma. Upon first taste you still got the typical huge mouthfeel but even sweeter then normal and the booze was somewhat hidden. Things just seemed more smooth and more balanced with this one, almost like the vanilla cut through the oak and almost brought out coffee and some chocolate. Long lasting finish that didn’t kill the palate. Very good.

From notes. First reviewed 7/15/2011. Poured from a growler into a tasting glass. 2010 version. From notes. Vanilla Bean Dark Lord pours pitch black all the way through. No light edges, just pure unadulterated evil. Due to light carbonation, there is nearly no head here. The aroma here is like Dark Lord, only slightly better. Maybe due to bottle vs. growler issues, the aroma is lighter, but the vanilla adds a great aroma. Vanilla lays on top of fully roasted malt, chocolate, molasses, and espresso. The flavor just blows me away. Dark Lord improves drastically with a year on it, and the vanilla beans just take it to another level. Smooth vanilla beans up front and center, with dark roasted malt and espresso up next. Caramel soaked fudge is a delight, but the sweetness never overpowers, a brewing feat for sure. The aftertaste is softly sweet and a little bitter, with a big dose of vanilla. The mouthfeel is thick and just a touch more syrupy than the regular version, but the vanilla bean flavor makes it worth it. Chewy like fudge. The only knock here is that the carbonation could be increased just a little bit. Overall, this is one of the top beers I have ever tasted, for sure. Taking a beer I love and inserting the perfect amount of vanilla beans shows the artistry that goes into this beer.

I prefer the other DL beers, but this is still an amazing beer!! On tap at DLD. Strong vanilla, coffee and bourbon flavors.

[place holder rating- notes backlog] Lucky to try this at the FFF dinner at Paradiso Georgetown. Ink pour with a small, red head. Rich Woodford Reserve bourbon and ultra silky palate. Chewy and satisfying. I’m not a big fan of normal Dark Lord (harsh, sweet) but this is richer and more fluid losing the off character of normal Dark Lord perhaps through the aging plus adjunct additions.

Wonderful variation of DL. The nose is boozy, chocolatey and has a nice vanilla back. Amazing taste and its so smooth and viscous

On tap @ Mikkeller bar. The aroma has loads of vanilla, bourbon, roast, chocolate, some coffee, banana, cherries. Black coloured beer with no head. The taste is sweet, has a lot of fruitiness, raisins, vanilla, milk chocolate bourbon, some roast. Thick mouthfeel. Very nice, but a bit too much vanilla imho.

had a sample of the 10’ variety at DLD 2010. I liked the vanilla better than the regular DL, but fresh I still am not a big fan. This beer smells great, but I find the taste to be a mess. I think with a few years of age it should hopefully balance out abit, but fresh I find it to be a bit of a wreck. This entire line from FFF has a lot of hype behind it and I think that inflates the ratings. I find this beer to have to much going on and just not that enjoyable.

UPDATED: AUG 21, 2011 Rebottle (unknown heritage) (ChrisO’s pre-GBBF2011 "Donkey Dork Lord" shindig) - thanks madmitch76, one of the nicest donkeys I’ve met!
http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/ doh-a-tale-of-epic-fail_176038.htm
Woh, rich sweet vanilla and dark mocha cake aroma. Fuck me it’s sweet, and thick and heavy, ..., hmmm, and luscious, and rich and with a very firm but gentle coffee-choc roastiness, and bucketloads of vanilla - nice. Sticky, but yummy. Covers 14% fairly well, doesn’t taste quite that heavy, even though it’s certainly packing a punch. Lacking the finess of Struise’s Cuvee Delphine, but not a bad stab at all.