Avondale Vanillaphant

Avondale Vanillaphant is an American Porter brewed with vanilla, 6.2% ABV. There is a date on the bottom of the can that reads 07/22/16 that I will assume is the canning date. Opened on 09/27/16. I am not normally a sucker for flashy art or clever names, but I do love the name of this beer. For some reason I’m finding Vanillaphant to be so awesome it hurts. Maybe I just wish I’d thought of it myself.

This is a fine looking beer that pours with the darkest of dark brown colors and has a perfectly fluffy tan head. High marks on the aroma as well! I am absolutely getting the vanilla on the nose along with some moderate roast and nuttiness. After such a nice appearance and aroma the taste is a little bit of a let down. I was expecting something sweeter, but this has a rather dry (almost chalky) taste and feel. Flavors of dry bakers chocolate, acidic roasted malt, mild vanilla, and some surprising bitter hops are making up the majority of the taste.

This is by no means a bad tasting beer, but it just did not live up the hype of the look and nose for me. I will say that flavor did mellow and meld a bit as I sipped on it, which for me was a good thing.