Great Lakes Brewing Harry Porter and the Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Beans

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: Porter
Etobicoke, Canada

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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650ml unlabeled bottle. The batch I got said 7% ABV. Looked great in the glass, very large chocolate whipped cream head, very dark body. Aroma is roasty malt and a hint of bourbon. Taste is dark roasted malt, some coffee, dark chocolate, I get more of the bourbon than the vanilla. Creamy body. Overall, less vanilla than I expected, but still quite good.

Not an imperial and it relaly took on the additions hard. Super vanilla, nice cocoa, pleasant beer.

In short: A roasty biscuity dark ale with A LOT of vanilla flavors. Ok.
How: Bottle 22oz, consumed 6 months after bottling. Bottle sent to me by blankboy, thanks a lot Paul. My bottle marked at 7% and not 5.3% as currently listed on ratbeer.
The look: Almost black body topped by a very small tan head.
In long: Nose is unsurprisingly dominated by vanilla backed up by wafer sandwich and light notes of coffee. Taste has lots of biscuits, vanilla cookies, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, vanilla whatever, a sip of black coffee, a strong roast presence, burnt cereals, some milky notes, leafy-minty hops to conclude. The high roast level helps to balance the vanilla sweetness so thankfully the beer is never cloying. However you really need to love vanilla to love this beer. I understand the name implies vanilla beans, however I was hoping for better integration of vanilla beans, not a total takeover. Yet, despite its over-the-top vanilla character I actually liked the beer to some extent. PRO TIP: If you want to be the most annoying person ever at a tasting, bring this beer, express your opinions of this beer very often by always referring to it by its full name.

650mL bottle, sent from wilco (thanks Mike), pours black with a medium tan / light brown head. Aroma of rich vanilla beans upfront, moderate bourbon barrels, and more vanilla. Flavour of moderate roasted malt and potent vanilla beans, and low-to-moderate bourbon barrels. Finishes on notes of roasted malt and vanilla beans. More roasted than typical porters, but very well-designed. Great stuff.

A dark brown stout with a thick brown head. In aroma, nice clean chocolate with vanilla ice cream, excellent. In mouth, a nice smooth caramel chocolate with vanilla and bourbon, coffee, very nice alcohol. On tap at Inde Ale House, Feb. 2 2012.

Bottle from the brewery. The porter version of DDC Aphrodisiac. Light on body, but nice beer otherwise. Nice bitterness from the roast. Vanilla is hardly subtle, but it’s not overwhelming either.

Wish there were points for a silly title! Cask at Only. Great dark brown look with dark tan head, faint nose of dark fruit, taste is surprisingly bitter - thin hop bite. Struggling to detect toffee, chocolate... is there any vanilla here? All the hinted-at mellow richness seems clobbered and defeated by the weird almost metallic astringency. Excessively bitter hop palate - why?

Cask. Coffee black, frothy tan head. Carmel, vanilla and chocolate. Enough said. Full body. A little lacking on the bourbon side of things but ill forgive that and say this is pretty delightful.

(very fresh-tasting cask at BarHop, 12-22-12) Pours a pitch black with a thin pale tan head. Aroma very rich and complex, dark roast coffee, chocolate, vanilla, some sweet malt, a little bourbon coming through. Flavours follow the aroma, leading with roast coffee, chocolate and some slightly sweet dark malts with more of the vanilla and bourbon character mid-palate. Finishes dry and roasty with maybe a hint of hops. Fairly full, smooth and unctuous creamy palate, expected soft carb from a cask. No alcohol detectable. This beer is tailor-made for a cask with all the flavours knit together so well, with exceptional concentration and a perfect mouthfeel for the style.

22oz bottle from Marcus. The tag says 7% abv, not 5.3%. Pitch black with a tan head, almost a purple hue to it, fades fast. Aroma of coffee, vanilla and malt. Tastes like real vanilla, some light coffee and a nice bitter chocolate. This is a pretty nice porter.