Beer – #651 – Brewaucracy – Bean Counter

Alternative beers, Alternative Music, Alternating numbers and Alternate venues.

“..completely ruined ….. We’re sure you’ll get it once you try it!”

Understated packing on this 500ml bottle of a beer that is 5% ABV, and 135 calories a serve size, and also 30 IBU things, the bottle contains 2 standard drinks.

Brewed at Shunters Yard Brewery in the style Porter and that is in Matangi, New Zealand

Bean counter is a perfectly balanced and traditional English Porter, “completely ruined” by the addition of Tahitian vanilla!

Been looking forward to this

While our traditionalist friends cringe, we celebrate the way the vanilla gently binds the chocolate and espresso notes present in the base beer and adds a warm creamy note.

Think a coffee laced creme brulee, and you won’t be far off.

The vanilla is subtle though, we didn’t want to offend those traditionalist mates of ours too much after all! It’s there to bring out the underlying flavours of the beer, and complement them with subtlety.

It’s not supposed to be a vanilla bomb. We’re sure you’ll get it once you try it!

So what could possibly go wrong? Well I’ve had this on my travels from the keg, and it was from memory really nice and subtle.

It’s more like milk chocolate milkshake than vanilla on opening, a most entertaining experience.

Dark pour as you’d expect and a small coffee coloured head, and I get now a coffee aroma.

The taste is delicate and subtle without being absent, the vanilla is at a really decent level.

But.

Ideally I’d like to drink a porter that offered me a full drink, a bit more body, something in the middle, which this does not appear to have.

But.

It is a really easy drinking and quaffable, but it doesn’t really fully engage the taste buds in any meaningful way. This isn’t to say that couldn’t drink a few, I thunk I could, but I think that I’d need another distraction for my palate, this doesn’t really offer up that much by way of layers, or levels, or point highlights.

But.

It really does have a great aroma, and the taste is consistent for the whole glass.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. I like this as a drink, the sweetness of the vanilla is appealing, however the beer itself is just lacking in complexity or body for me, I’d like some other counterpoint to the vanilla, some uncovering flavour as it warms. I didn’t get it. I still enjoyed the beer though.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? Yes, its both quenching and quaffable.
Would I have another? I would, you could easily sit for a few of these.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I might as an example of a vanilla beer but I don’t know that it’d become a go-to favourite or alternate to the normal intake.

Music for this. Alt-Country night with ” Langhorne Slim ” the album ” The Spirit Moves ” on the spotify

PORTER

Black or chocolate malt gives the porter its dark brown color. Porters are well hopped and heavily malted. This is a medium-bodied beer. Porters can be sweet. Hoppiness can range from bitter to mild. Porters are often confused with stouts.