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.

SKA Vernal Minthe Stout

Brewed By: SKA Brewing in Durango, Colorado

Purchased: 12oz can from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable, 5.8%
Reported IBUs: 15

I haven't had a SKA beer in a while, and I have been meaning to try this one since it was announced. About SKA:

SKA Brewing are all about the ska, from the design of their website to the Toasters' songs playing in the background on the homepage. They even released a special beer, the Toasters 30th Anniversary IPA, to celebrate the band. The website is pretty bitchin'...and while I usually get annoyed by websites that have music playing in the background, the site is playing music by the Toasters. The freaking Toasters, yo. It's such a feel-good nostalgia trip it is hard to hate. Flipping through the cool comic animations on SKA Brewing's website will give you a lot of cool brewery information. The brewery was founded in 1995 by Bill Graham and Dave Thibodeau in Durango, Colorado. In the 2008, the brewery moved to its current location at Bodo Industrial Park. The brewery has become famous for their use of cans, most notably for their Modus Hoperandi and Euphoria Pale Ale. For more information, check out their website!

The Vernal Minthe Stout is a sweet stout brewed with real peppermint, spearmint, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans. 

SKA Vernal Minthe Stout

This one pours into a relatively black body, minus the viscosity of a thicker beer, and kicks up two fingers of impressively dark head. The head is flirting with mocha, and definitely sits in the realm of coffee and ice cream. This looks more cola-esque in bright light, with some red and brown tones escaping the edges of the glass.

The aroma here is dusty cocoa, Brown Ale nuttiness, caramel malts and big vanilla bean sweetness, and lots of mint. I'm getting spearmint, peppermint, and mint chocolate candies. It's an impressive and inviting aroma fo sho.

There is little to nothing in terms of body here, and you'd probably expect that with a beer punching in at 5.8%. This is somewhat watery and acidic up front, but then the beer drops into deep mint character, with big spearmint and peppermint colliding with big cocoa notes. It tastes like a mint chocolate candy. There's a little sweetness character, but it's nondescript and not really a straight vanilla note.

[edit: I fell asleep writing this review, so it's a new day and I have a newly refreshed palate.]

On my first sip today, I'm getting big mint chocolate. There's huge Andes Thin Mints in this beer...it's very minty. I actually think this tastes sweeter than the Pipeworks Mint Abduction. I'm getting some hints of mint chocolate chip Ice Cream, and lots of watery spearmint and spent chewing gum. It's pretty enjoyable, especially at the lower ABV.

For whatever reason (maybe a spent palate), I'm enjoying this much more now than I did a day ago. This is still a lighter Stout, in the realm of Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter or Dogfish Head's Chicory Stout. Still...this is medium-light bodied with good cling and a full-ride as far as palate depth goes. The mint and chocolate give this beer duration, while the mint and carbonation cut through the mouthfeel. The 5.8% isn't even close to being excessive and you get no alcohol here. This is moderately complex, all things considered. Up front: sweet spearmint, mint, chocolate, light vanilla, thin mints; the mids roll into big spearmint, watery mint and spent mint gum; the back end grows into big cocoa mint, with Andes Thin Mints and a great mint finish. This is sweet, like mint chocolate chip and Thin Mints.

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average...this is on par with the Mint Truffle Abduction -- but better -- but also different. It's better in that it is sweeter and it hits home that Andes Thin Mints/mint chocolate chip ice cream note. It also is different in that this is a lighter, subtle beer. This is a beer that you can easily miss, like many of SKA's beers. It's subtle and well-made but it's not assaulting your face with over-the-top flavors and sugary booze. That said, I still think you can pair this beer with ice cream, chocolate desserts, chocolate cake, or something savory and salty like white truffle french fries. Good stuff. 

Random Thought: Congrats to the Spurs for dominating the Heat three games in a row, and playing some of the best looking team basketball I have ever seen.