On tap at Poor Henry’s, well-done Snickerdoodle cookie re-creation brings cinnamon-sugared vanilla sweetness to black chocolate malting. Light anise, cumin and nutmeg seasoning contrasts hazelnut-smoked wood char underneath. Fine as sweet-toothed medium body dessert.
On tap at Dog & Cask, easygoing brown porter needs more pronounced cinnamon spicing and vanilla bean licks to infiltrate molasses-smoked black chocolate base (first used in Happy Buck’n Anniversary Imperial Porter). Dank hop roast dissipates toasted coconut, marshmallow and coffee subsidies.
Engaging offshoot of similarly mocha-malted DLF Brown Ale relies on tantalizing vanilla bean creaming and sweet bourbon overtones instead of caramelized coconut. Syrupy molasses sapping drapes dark-roasted mocha malting, fudgy milk chocolate froth and sugared coffee retreat. But its the rich vanilla presence that lingers loudest over tarry hop oils by the seductively noirish finish.
Better updated version (2013) loads creamy French vanilla bean roast and lovely milked coffee sedation into caramel-burnt hop char. Fudgy black chocolate midst contrasts raw molasses bittering and wavered black pepper snip. Latent cappuccino hints abound. 2019 version let mildly creamed cocoa-dried vanilla bean bittering hover alongside cedar-seared Blackstrap molasses hop char, but minor phenol aridity beckons.
Masterful hybridized smoked porter adds Madagascar vanilla beans to steadfast dark-roasted black chocolate template, creamy caramel-toffee cluster and hickory-smoked black coffee bittering. Charcoal-coarsened hop char thickens peat-smoked mocha malting, raw molasses pungency and sneaky cola-walnut conflux. Mildewed compost waft seems out of place, but not detrimental. A strong dessert choice in lieu of espresso.
On tap at Copper Mine, bittersweet vanilla bean adjunct picks up creamy coffee-dried chocolate spicing and teasing cinnamon snip. Sweet bee-hived honey sinew heightens the mocha sweetness and wispy dried fruiting contrasting the distant ashen tobacco snip. Betters butterscotch-swirled vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Indistinct vanilla-chocolate front end diminishes over time. Barren coffee, cocoa bean and black chocolate notes drift shapelessly over ashen hop astringency and nasty diacetyl buttering. Dark toffee clip, light bourbon snip, distant hazelnut nip and wavered gingerbread snap fade too quickly below complacent mocha-backed vanilla finish. On tap, fading vanilla-chocolate sweetness deprived by ashen nuttiness.