Harry Porter and the Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Beans

[atomeyes]

just had a bottle from the LCBO.

before i post my comments, just hoping to hear from others who've had it on tap or bottle before and what they think of this release.
i was not overly impressed

[liamt07]

Had this on tap 3+ years ago, in addition to a bottle from the brewery 2+ years ago. Was much, much better then than it is now. Fairly average I thought.

[Belgian]

Those Rogue-ish Great Lakers...

[midlife crisis]

Had this on tap 3+ years ago, in addition to a bottle from the brewery 2+ years ago. Was much, much better then than it is now. Fairly average I thought.

Yeah I agree. Just way too much vanilla in it for me. I actually poured this - and I love the "base beer", the plain Harry Porter. Maybe it needs to age or something.

[Craig]

I had this either last year or the year before and liked it just fine. It definitely had plenty of vanilla, but I wasn't bothered by it.

It seems like they're doing a whole slew of variations this year. Has anyone tried them?

[midlife crisis]

I had this either last year or the year before and liked it just fine.

Me too! But it seemed quite a bit different (to me) this year - that is the point.

[JeffPorter]

Haven't tried these new bottles (was it always 6%?) but I remember not long ago, confusing the base beer for this version, because it seems like Harry Porter (the original) had a bit of "bourbony, vanillay" qualitities. Especially on cask.

[sprague11]

Liked it, though the base beer is pretty good on its own. Only got subtle vanilla bean.

[atomeyes]

before i pooped on it, i wanted to see what others thought.

full disclosure: Deschutes Black Butte porter released half a year ago was not my cup of tea. other than mouth feel, i thought it was a clean but boring porter. little to no complexity. didn't get the hype. so perhaps it's a "to each his own" thing.

bought a bottle yesterday from the 'BO. split it between my wife and i because, yeah, i'm nice. neither of us overly impressed. "It's ok," she said. no depth. vanilla tastes extracty. mouthfeel wasn't there.

i thought this was a pretty tasty (not mind blowing) porter when i had it previously on tap. now, i'd say that it's a beer that i could comfortably serve to my 70 year old dad and know that he will like it because it is pretty easy to drink. otherwise, it misses what I want in a porter.

[skaghevn]

was it always 6%?

The Project X batch, which I loved, had 30 IBU and came in at 7% ABV. Will have to pick up one to see how much it's changed.

[beerstodiscover]

The Project X batch, which I loved, had 30 IBU and came in at 7% ABV. Will have to pick up one to see how much it's changed.

I enjoyed the 7% Project X batch too, the one I had was barrel aged. This one is not ("bourbon soaked"?), I didn't taste any bourbon in it. Not nearly as intense as the Project X batch. Still a good porter.

[GregClow]

The Project X batch, which I loved, had 30 IBU and came in at 7% ABV. Will have to pick up one to see how much it's changed.

I enjoyed the 7% Project X batch too, the one I had was barrel aged. This one is not ("bourbon soaked"?)

The 7% barrel-aged version was Vanilla Bourbon Porter, which was a different beer - a porter aged in a bourbon cask with vanilla beans: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/great-lake ... er/235296/

Harry Porter & The Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Beans has never been barrel aged. It has vanilla beans that have been soaked in bourbon added during conditioning, along with some pure vanilla extract. I believe it's always been 6% as well. At least that's what the Rate Beer entry says - http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/great-lake ... an/140072/

DIfferent processes, different names, different abv - different beers.

[JeffPorter]

before i pooped on it, i wanted to see what others thought.

full disclosure: Deschutes Black Butte porter released half a year ago was not my cup of tea. other than mouth feel, i thought it was a clean but boring porter. little to no complexity. didn't get the hype. so perhaps it's a "to each his own" thing.

bought a bottle yesterday from the 'BO. split it between my wife and i because, yeah, i'm nice. neither of us overly impressed. "It's ok," she said. no depth. vanilla tastes extracty. mouthfeel wasn't there.

i thought this was a pretty tasty (not mind blowing) porter when i had it previously on tap. now, i'd say that it's a beer that i could comfortably serve to my 70 year old dad and know that he will like it because it is pretty easy to drink. otherwise, it misses what I want in a porter.

Deschutes was also not my thing, per se, compared to the awesomeness of the founders porter. Harry Porter (the canned version right now) is pretty great.

I dunno. There seems to be more "Vanilla Bean" here and less "Bourbon Soaked". Reminds me a bit of an amped up version of that Box Steam Funnel Blower. A pretty good beer, but I think I prefer the original version to this. The original seems more...robust...

Not quite what I remembered it being, but I rarely trust my memory.

[skaghevn]

Harry Porter & The Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Beans has never been barrel aged. It has vanilla beans that have been soaked in bourbon added during conditioning, along with some pure vanilla extract. I believe it's always been 6% as well. At least that's what the Rate Beer entry says - http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/great-lake ... an/140072/

The Project X tag (yes, I still have it ) says the HPATBSVB was 7%.

[Belgian]

I thought this was good tonight, immediate vanilla flavors that blend in well and a hint of richness from either the bourbon or the malts. Cask at Castro's Lounge on Queen St. East.