Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout (Bourbon Vanilla Bean)

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter

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# 1300. 2008 Vanilla Bean Dark Lord on draft at the brewpub at 2009 Dark Lord Day. Pours a pitch black with a small light brown cream head. Beautiful aroma of vanilla on top of all of the Dark Lord aromas. Taste of creamy rich vanilla bean on top of all of the Dark Lord flavors. Simply amazing !!! I can honestly say that this was the most enjoyable beer I have had to date. Perfect all around !!!!

UPDATED: MAY 13, 2008 The closet thing to a perfect beer I have ever had. Flat out delicious in every possible way. Pours thick and heavy. So black that it stains the cup. No lacing. Aroma is yeaty and full of chcolate and vanilla, some bread, cherries, and candy as well. Richness everywhere, in the aroma and taste. This one is creamy as creamy can be, just incredibly smooth...thick, but never TOO thick, a perfect mouthfeel. Flavor is f’n delicious. Thick and chewey, with lots of roasted barley, vanilla, chocolate covered cherries, cocoa powder, oak, and yeast, also notes of coffee. Some dark fruit and syrup notes as well. Roasted malts make themselves known at times, but the vanilla and chocolate covered cherries pack the punch. Alcohol is present, but doesn’t feel like 14% whatsoever, but everything else is bold, yet smooth and totally drinkable. Flavors swirl in your mouth and are constantly changing, even the same mouthful will evolve before you swallow. The vanilla is always present, but only adds complexity and flavor, it never dominates. Very warming, but never at the expense of the brew itself. Everything strikes a great balance in getting the beer to feel and taste exactly as it should. This one is thick, oily, and bold. The vanilla beans are the PERFECT compliment to DL, and should be an actual ingredient. This beer is like drinking heaven.

Tap at Mikkeller bar, opening Day. I am a sucker for vanilla, so been craving this for awhile. Dark blackish with a minimal Brown head. Overpowering dessert aroma, as expected, good so far. Vanilla, toffee, bourbon, cocoa,coco. Rich in all of it. Thick sweet flavor with all the moutharomas powering through and taking over the High abv. Great stuff

UPDATED: MAY 16, 2011 My favorite beer that I have ever tasted. Just amazing. Pour is incredible black with tiny tiny brown head. Aroma is vanilla, coconut, brown sugar, bourbon, molasses and awesomeness. Flavor is true to nose and lingers forever. Wow! I love this beer. Re-tried at DLD 2011 - It’s still a 5.

On Tap at DLD. OMG, this is ice cream. Seriously. It’s absolutely amazing and it takes the original DL to whole ’nother level. A thick rich black pour with a brown head. This is the aroma I was hoping for from DL with the vanilla so much more prevalent. Super sweet vanilla flavor with chocolate, molasses, toffee, dark roasted malts and a fruit flavor - it all really opens up as the beer comes to room temperature. I could literally pour this over ice cream.

Handbottle, courtesy StFun. Pours pitch dark with some brownish highlights. Flat, but beautiful. Nose has tons of vanilla, chocolate and bourbon. Flavor is massive amounts of vanilla, sticky chocolate, molasses, big caramel and brown sugar. Simply AMAZING. Full-bodied and so balanced and SOOO good. RI-DIC-U-LOUS.

UPDATED: MAY 20, 2010 had on tap at DLD ’08 a monster not for the faint of heart.thick black and oily in appearence with little carbanation true to its nature a real beast in the stout class. taste sweet of honey,molasess,chocolate vanilla beans and wood,creamy feel on mouth and tounge like a thick shake very extreme and very complex, maybe not for everyone. yeah my first 5

Just tried the Vanilla Oak Aged DL, and holy crap, i’ve never had a beer that i thought was worthy of a perfect rating until now. This has the consistency of molasses, the aroma of bourbon, vanilla, and the darkest malts. And tastes like the most viscous complex, and complete imperial stout i had ever exposed my tastebuds to. Perfect 5, my only regret is that they ran out before i could make it home and back with a few sanitized bottles and my bottle capper to save a few.

Sampled at DLD 2010. Wow, this year’s vintage is incredible. VB DL It is a kinder, gentler version of the brutally massive Dark Lord. Would love to try this with a few months of age. Can’t wait until next year.

DLD’11. Finally got to try this, and boy did it live up to the hype. Oily black pour, thin espresso tan head. Aroma is thick of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, roast, some nice candied dark fruit, touch of the barrel in there. Taste is perfect, and not overly sweet like I thought it might be. Big notes of vanilla up front, but the coffee and bitter baker’s chocolate compliment it perfectly, some other sweet dark fruits in there finishing roasty and bitter, with a perfectly mouth coating body without being too oily. Doesn’t get much better!