Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

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

Cask (handpump) at the White Horse American Beer Festival, July 2009. Very dark. Sumptuous, rich chocolate and coffee with strong vanilla notes. The vanilla is more evident than the smoke. Fairly sweet on the palate. Delicious but the sweet vanilla did get a bit wearing after a while.

On cask at The Daily Pint in Santa Monica. Poured into a Duvel tulip (for some reason). Dark clear brown with a huge fluffy cocoa head that sticks around forever. Big vanilla bean aroma with some roasted malt character. In the flavor, the roles are reversed. Roasted malt takes the center stage and the vanilla beans add a noticeable but subtle even sweetness. Just a touch of smoke/charcoal in the end. Nice dry and bitter finish. Very easy to drink, low carb due to it being on cask. Really complex and flavorful for 5.9%.

Cask at White Horse on Parsons Green, August 2009. Black with a small off-white head. Vanilla, licorice, wood smoke and vineous sherry alcohol in the aroma. Sweet chocolate and vanilla flavour. Slightly roasted finish, but could do with a little more balance to the sweetness

Sweet and light ice cream aromas and easy roasted flavours. Highly drinkable with a great depth of flavour. Good woodiness and a smooth vanilla hit. Smooth and totally still in the mouth. Very nice, very quaffable.

Black with a white head about half a finger wide. Smells like vanilla and roasted malts. Tastes like vanilla cake batter and frosting...reminds me of something I got from this one guy one time...but that’s a whole other story. The mouth is very light and thin...drinkable, not great but not bad.

Cask (handpump) @ White Horse on Parson’s Green, 1-3 Parson’s Green, Greater London, England SW6 4UL.
Clear dark black color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is heavy malty, milk chocolate, cacao, vanilla, moderate alcohol, smoke - wood notes. Flavor is heavy sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a long duration, and a smokey notes. Body is medium, texture is creamy, carbonation is soft to flat. [20090807]

Unfortunately, the beer somehow went flat by the time I got around to writing this. Still, vanilla is definitely present on the nose, although toned down a bit due to the lack of bubbles. Flavor is characteristically smoked porter, some vanilla flavor and very sweet, although also distinctly hoppy, with grass dominating over floral, so like Stone. A nice reworking of the original smoked porter.

On cask @ The Daily Pint. Deep hazy brown with a one-finger light beige head, good retention. Lots of vanilla and milk chocolate up front with some roasted malts and toasted grain. Lots of vanilla in the flavor--almost seems artificial (but still good). with stronger roasted malts. Still some milk chocolate, but failing to pick up on any smoked notes, as with the American oak version. Semi-dry roasty chocolatey finish with bitterness @ a 3. Light carbonation with a medium body.Good beer, but falls more to the dessert beer category, despite the light to moderate sweetness. Gimme some Devil’s food cake with this and I’d be set.