Dark Side Vanilla Porter

Tasted at the Misewicz's house following a 13 mile run w/fartleks. Enjoyed with homemade pita chips and a omelet stir fry.

Appearance: Deep dark brown with a poor head retention, if at all. Some wet lacing on the sides. Clarity around the edges with a rubied hue.

Aroma: Strong vanilla and chocolate with mild hints of roasted malt and coffee. Quite synthetic smelling with an accompaniment of ester yeast components. Very aromatic and malted sweet. A little reminiscent of burnt popcorn.

Taste: Sweet foretaste that is somewhat carameled and toffeed. A bit of a burnt taste can be picked out deep under the dominating vanilla taste. Still the vanilla and favoring tastes synthetic and unnatural. The flavor is light but strong to the taste buds. It has a alcoholic component at the finish leaving behind a mellowed spicy aftertaste that is very drawn out. A little bit of the sour/stale flavor common to the old world porter. Tobacco and licorice finally emerge.
Mouthfeel: Medium body and very light carbonation. Still the texture is smooth and not in the slightest bit sticky. The finish is dry and drawn.
Overall Impression: Not overly impressed. Far too much vanilla to even be drinkable. I couldn't imagine having a  pack of this. Definitely tastes like extract and less like the actual vanilla beans. The finish leaves a very vapored tobacco taste that draws away from the overall desire to continue drinking.


75/100