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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bottle. Baconish smoke with vanilla. Somehow that’s yummy, made all the more remarkable by the fact I’m a vegetarian.

Bottle. Moderate toasted cereal for the malt, light herbs for the yeast, light dough and earth for the yeast, with hints of vanilla and cola. Head is average size, tan, with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is clear dark brown with a red tint. Flavor starts lightly to moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then the long finish is lightly acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium, a little slippery with a lively carbonation and a dry finish. Nice toasty and earthy aromas, but the flavor wasn’t as sweet as I expected. A pretty good Porter, but no smoke.

pours dark red and black, mostly opaque. aroma is smokey and sweet. choclate and vanilla. tastes very porter like, smokey with a little less bitter due to the vanilla. solid brew

P: Deep dark mahogany body with a thick frothy ice cream float top. Thick chunky lacing clings for life. S: Rustic smoke, vanilla bean, cardboard, dark malt, milk chocolate, a subtle similarity to icy hot. T/M: Taste follows the nose and creates a vanilla cream flavor with nutmeg and cocoa. Zesty medium body with a semi dry smoked finish. O: A solid smoked porter that hits all the highlights. I’ve had the chipotle pepper version which was much better but there is nothing really wrong here.

Bottle. Dark brown pour with tan head. Smells like smoked porter with some vanilla obviously. Smooth drinking with a hint of vanilla. Not sure what i think of this, but i know i would buy the standard bomber of smoked porter before id buy this again.

Bottle; Color: Watery Brown. Aroma: Chocolate/ Caramel/Smoke. Flavor: Smoke taste, however it is extremely odd. I am not sure if the combination of smoke and vanilla works for me, it really tastes a bit strange.

Poured into a snifter. 3.5 A: Black color. One and a half fingers of beige creamy/frothy head. Retention is about average and some spotty lacing is left. 4.25 S: The roasty smokiness meshes extremely well with the vanilla. Grainy malts with a pleasant caramel sweetness. Smells like creme brulee in a few ways. Very nice. 3.25 T: The taste isn’t nearly as good as the nose. The vanilla seems to almost enhance the bitterness and roastiness from the malts. What results is a wholely unbalanced beer. It needs a lot more sweetness to balance. Still it’s not bad, just not as good as it could be. 3.5 M: Lighter medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Could use some more creaminess, but it’s okay. 3.5 D: Not bad, but this was $3.50 for the 12 oz. bottle, so I don’t this is something I’d buy often. Serving type: bottle 03-21-2013 03:49:04

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.