Avery Vanilla Bean Stout

Brewed By: Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado  

Purchased: 22oz bomber bought at Binny's in Chicago, Illinois; 2016 

Style/ABV: American Imperial Stout, 11.0% on bottle, 10.8% on website

Reported IBUs: ?

Avery is doing some very cool stuff these days. If you would have said to me earlier this year, "Hey man, there's this awesome bourbon barreled vanilla stout, you wouldn't believe who brewed it." I would be probably be like, "Okay who?" And you'd be like, "Avery." And I'd be like, "Damn...you're right."

Ahhh...Avery. What to say about these guys. Avery is a brewery that was founded in September 1993 by homebrewer Adam Avery. You've heard this story before: homebrewer makes awesome beer, homebrewer jumps into the booming craft beer scene with great beer. Between 1993 and now, Avery has expanded numerous times, including bigger tanks in 1995 and in 1997. In 2000, the brewery replaced their brewhouse, and in 2002 more tanks were added, and 2004 marked the second year of Avery's barrel program. Since then, it's been all uphill with more expansion, canned beer, and continued success. To read more, check out Avery's website.

The Vanilla Bean Stout is a new[?] addition to Avery's lineup of beers. Brewed with a trio of "Tongan, Ugandan, and Mexican whole vanilla beans," the beer also pulls vanilla flavors from bourbon barrels. They also seem to add a pinch of chocolate, caramel and molasses.

Avery Vanilla Bean Stout

I won't comment much on the appearance, which looks like every other Imperial Stout ever. It is a fairly opaque affair, with bright light failing to penetrate this beer's body. You get the rooby dooby reds on the edges, and the head retention is nice.

I'm not sure if this is flash pasteurized. I'm not sure why I would mention that in the aroma section. The aroma is creamy and rich, with vanilla bean, vanilla ice cream, crème brûlée, cheese cake, light wood and bourbon, molasses and burnt caramel sugars, and light notes of dark and white chocolate. There's some berry notes and alcohol as well.

This follows the nose with some added layers of alcohol and wood. It starts out with rich unfolding vanilla: cake, cream soda, coconut cake, vanilla bean, crème brûlée, cheese cake. There's some light coffee and roast, but this mostly sits in the realm of vanilla and dark fruits. There's a touch of wood and oak, and some nice alcohol to boot. 

The alcohol in here is a welcome and needed piece of the puzzle. Since this beer stays away from the heavy dark malts and over-the-top bourbon/barrel character, the profile could be nothing but vanilla. Fortunately, that is not the case. The alcohol and dark fruit notes offset the rich vanilla profile. This is NOT an overly sweet beer. It tastes weirdly balanced, with just the right amount of sweetness -- and that is in spite of the lack of dark malts. As this warms up the alcohol gets brighter, and the beer takes on a creamy root beer/cream soda aspect. This is moderately complex and develops with a smattering of vanilla and dark fruits, followed by lingering vanilla on the mids, and alcohol on the back. The wood comes and goes. 

Rating: Light Above-Average (3.75/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. Actually, if this ends up shelf turding alongside New Holland's Dragon's Milk, breweries are going to need to watch out. This tastes kind of like how I imagine Breckenridge's Twenty Five was supposed to taste. This is good stuff. You can't beat the price or the availability. I hope Avery keeps this year round, because I would occasionally pick this up.  

Random Thought: Tonight's drama is titled, "kitchen nightmares." Or, how a simple batch of chili could become me cleaning up giant messes in the kitchen.