Breckenridge Brewery’s Remarkable Vanilla Porter

Breckenridge Brewery, Denver CO

Info: (From the site) “Who would have thought deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Madagascar grew the perfect ingredient to build an extraordinary Porter in Colorado? An ale that has all the chocolate and roasted nut flavor of a classic Porter, with an enigmatic surprise thrown in for good measure, real vanilla bean. Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter. A vanilla kiss in a rich, dark sea.“

Did you think I was kidding when I said I was going to seek out all the dark beers (porters, stouts, and dark lagers) that I could conceivably find? Yeah, well, the joke’s on you, funny guy. Here we have a sample I had honestly never found the time to try though it stared me right in the face every time I went to the same cooler in the same store time and again. Let’s try it, shall we?

The pour yields nothing in the way of a head, but I figure: the more head, the longer it takes my lips to hit the wondrous elixir within. But boy is it a lovely dark, dark amber color that almost hints at the deeper blacks of a stout. And the aroma: Wow. Little else to be said. Wow. Fine, there is this: it’s rich, deep, and full-bodied with the omnipresent roasted malts, but that secondary smell of the amazing vanilla is fighting for top billing for sure. Amazing.

It’s like drinking a brownie. Seriously: chocolate, roasty, nutty, and absolutely inundated with an astounding vanilla flavor unlike any other I’ve tasted. It is a bit of dessert in a glass. The deeper you get, and the more air you can bring into your mouth while you sip, really opens up the hidden flavors this beer has to offer. I can taste caramels, mocha, a slightly hidden bitterness of the hops, all completed with the already full-on mystery of vanilla itself. Now I have had cocoa-laced porters, and I have had cherry-laced porters, but nothing in my vast library of tasted flavors can hold a hat to this wonderful mixture. Such a treat. As I said it has a dessert quality, I can safely advise coupling this beer with chocolates or a berry pie. For meals, stick with something roasted or grilled, for sure. I’m going back for more.

Rating: * * * * 1/2

It’s hard to go wrong with a porter. Kick that up a notch with a vanilla flavoring, and you, sir, have a winner.