Scotch Irish Vanilla Bean Porter

Cask at Volo, the day after the cask was tapped. Deep brown-black colour with a small mocha head. Big, robust aroma of vanilla, chocolate, almond, hazelnut, coffee and roasted malt - heavenly! Flavour holds all of those notes as well, and is even better than the aroma suggests. Mouthfeel is smooth and soft, leading into a mild finish with a perfect level of hoppiness. Beautiful...

From cask at the Castle on King. Wow what can I say about Canada’s new micro brewed super star? The Pulled pint produced a sticky, dead black ale with a rich thick mocha cap that lasted. Phenominal nose to this brew. Never have I seen 4 aromas marry with such a natural result...the vanilla predominates but does not "dominate" the aroma...Vanilla-toffee-cocoa-bready...wonderful nose to this. Moderatly rich body, silky mouth feel, rich vanilla-cocoa semi-dry character. Up front the malts pound the tongue as I never experienced in a porter, astringent "char" from black malt husks is subdued by the natural vanilla tones. Mid palate we get a swirl of cocoa, nuts, vanilla-toffee and a wonderful light bittering which supports the other flavors...finish is long and complex with light drying and bittering riding above the vanilla-caramel-coca tastes...light bready after taste. A world class flavored porter.....from cask there is none better.

TFOB. Great beer, nicely balanced with tastes of vanilla , coffee , chocolate and cinnamon which all nicely blended together.

Cask at Volo. This was just delicious. Chocolately and smooth, I must have tried this when the cask was newly tapped, since I found it full-bodied and fresh. Hoping this will be available more often!

Cask offering @ Volo. Aroma of roast coffee, chocolate, almonds, black, with a small cappuccino head. Flavour is chocolate, coffee, almonds, caramel and vanilla. Full bodied, complex, sweet and bitter. Majestic! Well done Perry!

Cask presentation (Day 2) at the Bar Volo, Yonge & Dundonald in Toronto. Chocolatey and nutty aromas and flavors, nuances of fruit, pleasant sizzle of hops on the tongue. Really nice & balanced, a satisfying ale I could easily session a few pints of without ’palate fatigue’ - for my taste integration is always more interesting than one flavor element being too dominant, and this Porter had a lingering spiciness along with the hops in the finish that just fit really well. The aroma was also warmly, delectably spicy without being pungent. Very nice!

TFOB 2007. Cask. “Harvesters Reward” porter with vanilla beans and cinnamon. Very dark brown-black body with a big foamy tan head. Average weight palate is creamy smooth. Sweet aroma with mild cocoa roast, vanilla, and faint aroma of cinnamon that I might not have picked out without being told it was in there (7+). Sweet malt flavour, similar vanilla and light cocoa roast as in the aroma and a light bitterness to keep things balanced. (8+) This was exceptionally nice today, and vastly superior to last years model, at least to my taste buds. 7+/4/8+/4/17-18 - 4.1 <P>Cask,TFOB 2006, with extra vanilla in it. Black body with a small tan head. Very strong vanilla aroma, very light floral notes. Flavour is actually quite sharp with vanilla covering up the malt for the most pat. Very tiny notes of cinnamon may have been imagined after being told they were there. Average palate for a cask. Very glad to try this but I actually found it a bit hard to finish, think I would prefer the "regular" version with a bit less intense vanilla. Will try it again sometime. My 800th Canadian Rating! 7/3/6/3/14 - 3.3

Draught (cask). At Volo - fourth day on for this cask. Poured opaque thick black with a perfect light brown lasting creamy head. Rich aroma of chocolate, vanilla, dry herbal hops - man this is rich, I could smell it 2 feet away. Taste is quite sweet and darkly roasty - milk chocolate, nutty and yeasty, reminds me .... yes!! like Nutella! Body is nice and thick for a porter, some carbonation, fairly acidic, this might have been a wee bit of age oxidation - but outstanding, I would still choose the regular porter over it but a terrific change of pace - well done, Perry. Again.