The hazy, dull amber beer has an appropriately sized head that boils down to a patchy network of a mixture of large and minuscule bubbles floating across the top and clinging to the sides of the glass. The aroma is right up front with this beer. I'm pretty sure I could probably smell this thing across the room, and it would smell pretty good. The titular vanilla is potent, and it seems like it's overwhelming everything but the most fervent of the citrus hops that are lingering well below the bombastic vanilla.First sip is very much vanilla. In fact, it's more vanilla bean than just vanilla. It's like the difference between that regular vanilla ice cream and the Breyers vanilla bean that has that extra level of wholeness to the vanilla. It's not like this is coming from vanilla extract. But, this isn't just vanilla. The caramel malt and citrus hops are coated with a thin veneer of yeast, but they are all just imparting a variance into the vanilla structure. But, that's just the sip. Let's gulp!
Tip-in is light carbonation that starts to swell with the sweet vanilla, caramel, and orange spritz. The middle becomes smooth and rich with more vanilla (and associated sweetness) and the malt and citrus that slithers down the throat with incredible ease. The finish moves in with a bit of bitterness replacing the sweetness, and then the somewhat musty vanilla that signifies that the whole bean was used enters to allow the bitterness and dried bread to constitute the entire trail off.
Bottom Line: As novelty beers go, this is a pretty darn good one.
3.0/5
