Thomas Creek Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale

Brewed by Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: Cream Ale
Greenville, South Carolina USA

Serve in Footed Pilsner, Lager glass

UPDATED: NOV 15, 2011 12oz bottle split with Anndiesel. Filtered yellow tan, very pale. Thin, steady, white head. Creamy, vanilla aroma. Damn, nails the style for a Cream Ale. Thin and light bodied, very drinkable. Honey, vanilla ice cream niceness, with a zesty balance. Subtle, inoffensive, a great session beer. Corny, vanilla, faint balancing wheat. Well done. Great beer, my high rate simply reflects how well it captured the style.

Bottled poured into lager glass. Pale straw yellow, very clear, small head that maintains. Lite aroma of vanilla, grain, a little malt, and some bready dough notes. Taste is light as well, a little sweet upfront, then a dash of bitterness, and then a clean vanilla cream finish. Little taste complexity as expected in a cream ale. Easy drinking. Not bad for a cream ale, they just aren’t really up on my beer style list.

Pours a clear, pale gold with a <1 finger creamy, eggshell head. Aroma is a touch of vanilla, dank stale malt, light mineral notes and used dishwater soapy hops. Flavor is pretty faint up front, light toast, vanilla, sweet malt. Finishes up with an increasing vanilla presence and soapy hops. Palate is light bodied with an oily/creamy entry and dry/oily finish, relatively high carbonation to break those up. I didn’t enjoy this beer too much, but I could see how it might appeal to some people, weird soapy hop notes aside.

Very light golden yellow in color. Completely see through with a very light head present. Aromas are of vanilla and light malts. On the attack you get a lot of vanilla up front. Oddly enough the big vanilla fades quickly mid palate and then turns into a plain jane cream stout.

Draft @ Hickory Hops 2011, Hickory, NC. Pours a clear pale golden color with a white head. Has a fruity malty grainy creamy aroma with hints of vanilla. Fruity and slightly sweetish malty creamy vanilla flavor. Has a fruity malty creamy finish with hints of vanilla.

Rocket City Brew Fest. Easy to drink with a definite vanilla kick. Thin and bubbly for the style or it would have been outstanding. Loved the flavor and could have easily had a few more. Tasty stuff.

Faint smell of vanilla on the nose. Yellow pour with a nice white head. For me the vanilla flavor was subtle and not overpowering. A refreshing brew on a hot day.

Strong vanilla aroma and into the flavor, otherwise a pretty light ale that doesn’t have much else going on.