Vanilla Baumé - Half Acre Beer Company

Sean9689

Illinois

3.83/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On cask at Night of the Living Ales. Poured into tasting glass.

A - Pours black, light mocha head, thin collar, wisps on top.

S - Vanilla and Baume...crazy huh? I'm not really a fan of regular Baume, so the vanilla defiantly helped improve upon the base beer.

T - Again, pretty straight forward here. Vanilla, chocolate, rye. I don't really think the vanilla is integrated very well, just basically tasting like Baume with a whole bunch of vanilla dumped in there. Not very complex, but hey, I like vanilla so whatever.

M - Medium body, light carbonation, creamy finish.

O - This won 1st Place at NotLA, but IMO, it wasn't even in my top 3. Overall, it's a decent beer and the vanilla is nice, but I wasn't going crazy over it like everyone else was (apparently).

Serving type: cask

03-05-2012 17:42:47 | More by Sean9689

MasterSki

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Firkin at Night of the Living Ales. Thanks to whoever pointed out that this was a special version and not just regular Baumé. Served in the supplied taster glass.

A - Thin tan foam settles to a thin collar and a few wisps. Very dark brown body with a transparent glint to it.

S - Massive vanilla bean aroma, with some caramel and light roast in the periphery, and then more vanilla. Not particularly subtle or complex, but quite enjoyable.

T - Taste isn't quite as nice. There's more chocolate and a moderate amount of roast bitterness in the finish, but thankfully it avoids the charry astringency I get from regular Baumé. Still plenty of vanilla too.

M - Smooth texture, low carbonation, chewy, creamy medium body, and no alcohol presence.

D - This was a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed it significantly more than all the other Baumé variants I've had in the past. Hopefully Half Acre makes this again periodically. I had a few glasses of this one throughout the evening, and even though it wasn't my favorite I can understand how it won "Best in Show".

Serving type: cask

03-04-2012 23:44:44 | More by MasterSki