Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Porter
Escondido, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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On Tap at Stone World Brewing Bistro and Gardens. Aroma is vanilla extract (with that tinge at the back of the nose). Not much else in the nose. Pours dark black, slightly opaque with a nice full tan head. Flavor: begins with sharp vanilla, the carbonation makes it taste like cream-soda. The vanilla dominates throughout, but there still is that rich malt and coffee that you expect in a porter in the background. Carbonation seems pretty high for my taste. Body is medium to light with pretty good head retention. Drinkability is medium to low. Not my favorite. I’m not a big fan of the Smoked Porter to begin with. The vanilla bean didn’t add much to the enjoyment or drinkability of this beer. If anything, it made it worse. It really tasted a lot like cream soda! The Worst Stone Beer I’ve had!

Poured from tap at the brewery a dark brown/black with medium sized brown head. Aroma is mild coffee and strong vanilla. Flavor is roast grain, coffee, dark chocolate and vanilla which grows stronger over time. Palate is mostly dry with just a touch of sweetness. Overall a nice beer with good flavor in small quantities but the vanilla grows overtime and would make this one hard for me to enjoy a whole pint.

Red brown with a good, off-white head with great lacing and alcohol legs. The aroma is of coffee with a strong vanilla overtone. The flavor is of vanilla and coffee with notes of wood (cedar). Finishes clean. The texture is syrupy. This beer is so easy to sip; I could drink it every day for the rest of my life.

On cask. Pours with a huge, light brown head covering a murky brown body. Aroma of canilla extract, some cocoa powder, coffee and a bit of something woody, like a cigar humidor. Taste is a lot of wood, smoke, and dry coffee. Syrupy mouthfeel, and light bubbles.

On cask at Taproom in Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA--Deep, dark, musky brown-amber body with a nose of hops, malts and mild vanilla bean. Slick, smooth mouthfeel. Low in carbonation. Big vanilla flavor on tongue. Mild yet residual. Tongue owned by vanilla flavoring. Combo of vanilla and hops quite unique. Not too bad. Not too noteworthy either.

Draught. I surmise this is the same, but there was no mentioning of "smoked" Good, receding light beige head over black beer. Vanilla, (waffles) very obvious, but these waffles are with maple syrup. Again Brussels’ waffles in the taste; vanilla, sweet, and a roasted finish. Medium bodied, slick & oily. Quite special and well-worth seeking out.

On-tap 1/28/08 at Stone. Pours dark brown, just a bit of light shines through. Thin head, leaves just a bit of lace. Smell is subdued, toasty malts with a hint of vanilla. Tastes os toasty malts and chocolate, I taste vanilla towards the finish only. Thin mouthfeel, coats the mouth a bit, decent carbonation. Tasty...

On tap at the Stone Winter Storm. Smells of Vanilla but not much in the taste. Still pretty good.

Growler. Pours with a thick, off white head. Malty roasty and vanilla aroma. Espresso notes. Light smokey roasty vanilla flavor. Really nice cream soda flavor. Medium bodied. Finish is dry. Nice beer.

On tap @ Stone’s 2008 Winter Storm. Poured like a black cup of coffee with a medium sized beige head. When the beer was first brought to me the vanilla was pretty in your face, after a few sips it kind of disappeared. Had a sip of my 04 DB then went back to it, vanilla started to pop again. Somehow the vanilla took away from some of the smokiness. Pretty damn good.