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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12 ounce bottle
Thanks to a generous person in California for sending me this bottle in exchange for some stuff I was purging from the cellar. I could probably have tracked it down without too much trouble. Now it gives me a reason to visit Southern California and try many of these at the source. Two thumbs up to Stone.

Aroma / Appearance - The chocolately brown base was warm yet dark and mysterious. The gentle head is the color of yellowed leaves decomposing in the compost heap. Chocolate, spice, and vanilla are simultaneously sweet and spicy. A cold ashy texture hangs in the back like stale cigarette smoke.

Flavor / Palate - Spiced chocolate stands up against a tamer vanilla profile. The smoky bite nips at the tongue for a while. A mild bodied and filling presence sets this apart. The smokiness adds more depth to an already excellent beer. This is the ideal dessert after a large meal. Hopefully more like it will come my way in the future.

In short: A vanilla-focused moderately roasted dark ale that is surprisingly sessionable. Good.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed one month after purchase.
The look: Very dark clear burgundy (very near black) body topped by a medium dense beige head with medium retention.
In long: Nose has a lot more of the advertised vanilla beans than the advertised smoke. Aroma of vanilla soaked dark bread with a tiny touch of smoke. Taste is sweet vanilla upfront, with a doughnut-like sensation. This beer mostly tastes like a chocolate glazed doughnut dipped in vanilla extract. There is also some roast and a bit of black coffee. Enough roast to wash away most of the sweetness of the after-taste leaving a clean toast and vanilla after-taste. Thick oily body with medium carbonation. Vanilla-focused beers are not exactly my thing but this one is very well done. This is usually the type of beer I quickly get tired of but not this one, I could drink a few bottles of this in a row. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chips and Stone beer give me cholesterol and I really don’t know where I’m going with this.

12 ounce bottle from McBreens. Looks like their smoked porter. Aroma is somewhat overwhelmed by vanilla. A little chocolate underneath, not much smoke. Vanilla sweet with some round dark fruit. Finish is medium bitter, vanilla, bitter, and some lingering smoke. Not nearly as good as the chipotle or the original.

Big thanks to Mr. Durhambeer for the hookup on this one.
Pours a very dark reddish brown with a big huge fluffy off white head and lots of lacing on the glass.

The aroma is very roasty & more coffee than vanilla forward. There is a nice lightly sweet vanilla character in the nose. Pungent and rich smelling!

The flavor is sweet, and very vanilla forward at first, then it slides into a nice roasty bitter... almost espresso like boldness. The smokiness is light, and works well with everything going on here. It’s a nice play on sweet but not sugary with bitter but not astringent... Nothing is overly extreme but all flavors are at the same time well presented and very dominant. It’s really probably the most interesting and enjoyable take on the "Vanilla Porter" that I’ve had to date.

Bottle Vanilla aroma, which is kind of expected. Decent porter flavor tagged with an awkward vanilla tint (taint?). Save the vanilla, save the porter. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Pours black with an off white head. Aroma of chocolate, vanilla and slight smoke. Taste is smoke, chocolate with a finish of vanilla. Medium to thin body. The vanilla really adds to this. I hope they make this a regular treatment. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Poured a finger of foamy tan head on a darkest brown body. The aroma is roasted malt with the slight hint of vanilla. The taste is creamy with roasted malt upfront, vanilla in the middle, and finishes with burnt malt and wood at the end. It’s distinct, but a little disjointed. The texture is creamy with moderate carbonation. It’s a good good but if the taste profile was smoothed out it would be amazing.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. It pours a very dark brown with ruby highlights and a small but lasting light tan head. The nose is a straight forward mix of vanilla and light roasted malt. The flavor starts off a little creamy with vanilla milk notes but an nice dry roastiness with a hint of smoke washes the slight sweetness away. What starts as full bodied ends on the dry side. A lingering vanilla note sits on the tongue. An interesting blend that works well together.

Bottle pour has a cola brown color and a thin coat of off white head. Aroma has roasted malt, light smoke, vanilla, some custard sweetness, and mild coffee. Mouth feel is medium and the carbonation average. Flavor has a well malted core, light smoke in the back, mild bitterness, dark chocolate, and a fair bit of vanilla bean that cuts the other flavors.

Nose very sweet succulent vanilla aroma not over powering. Very smooth lots of vanilla flavor smooth and silky. Would make a great IC float.